Faith of the Heart
by huntsvilletiger
Summary: To protect all that he holds dear, Naruto gathers the only group of shinobi powerful enough to fight Akatsuki, the jinchuuriki. But the first of his fellow demon hosts to rally to the cause is hiding closer to home than anyone thought. NaruHina
1. Chapter 1: Return to Konoha

**Faith of the Heart**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters from the anime or manga. (Duh)**

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

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**Author's Note (Added 12/22/2007): While I do not own Naruto or any of the characters or other aspects of the story created by Masahi Kishimoto, I do own this story. Do not plagiarize my work. **

**"plagiarize: verb 1. take (the work or an idea of someone else) and pass it off as one's own. 2. copy from (someone) in such a way."**

**********The reason I added this note is someone has seen fit to copy the entire first chapter of **_**Faith of the Heart**_** word-for-word and post it as their own. I'm talking literally "copy and pasting" the entire chapter, and not just borrowing a few passages or rewriting it in their own words. For the record, don't do something like that without my permission. I will find out, and I will make it your problem. I don't mind people getting ideas and inspiration from my stories to use in writing their ****own original stories****. However, if you're too lazy to write your own story don't steal someone else's and try to pass it off as something you authored. I thought that was a no-brainer, but apparently there are people who don't get the concept.**

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**Chapter 1: Return to Konoha**

"Hehehe! So they've added Tsunade's ugly old mug to the mountain," Naruto laughed to himself. 'When I become Hokage, I'm going to make sure my face on the mountain is smiling. That expression makes Baa-chan look like she's constipated or something.'

"You've grown a lot, haven't you, Naruto."

'I haven't heard that voice in a while,' Naruto thought as he looked back over his shoulder from his perch on top of the utility pole.

Sure enough, sitting on the rooftop of the building behind Naruto was Kakashi, little orange book in hand.

"Yo," Kakashi said as he lazily raised his free hand in greeting.

"Kakashi-sensei! You haven't changed at all," Naruto exclaimed with a grin as he leaped onto the roof next to his former sensei.

Kakashi was about to respond when another figure ran up the utility pole and gracefully vaulted into the air before landing next to the blond-haired teen with hardly a sound.

"Seems like Naruto isn't the only one who grew up. It's good to see you again, Hinata," Kakashi said with a warm smile that was clearly evident though his mask.

Hinata blushed slightly at the small compliment before smiling and bowing slightly toward Kakashi. "It's good to see you, too, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi took in the new appearance of the two teens he hadn't seen in over two and a half years. Naruto looked like he'd finally had his growth spurt and caught up to, if not surpassed, the rest of the Rookie Nine in height. The trademark whisker marks were still there, but the teen's face had lost almost all of the baby fat he'd had when he left Konoha. Jiraiya's training had done wonders for Naruto's physique, as well. Kakashi could tell he'd packed on some muscle. The most unexpected change was in Naruto's clothing. Jiraiya or Hinata had apparently talked some sense into the blonde about his color choices for mission clothing. Naruto was wearing dark gray cargo pants and ninja sandals along with a black t-shirt. Over this he wore an unzipped waist length black and dark gray jacket. Kunai holsters were strapped to each leg, and his ninja supply pouch. Kakashi could also make out a harness under Naruto's jacket that hid a single scabbard containing a pair of short butterfly swords when the wind blew open his unzipped jacket. The only orange visible on the outfit was on the spiral-shaped clan crest on the shoulder and back of the jacket. The cloth of Naruto's Konoha forehead protector was now black instead of blue and held his slightly longer and more untamed blond hair out of his face. What amazed Kakashi the most was how much Naruto reminded him of his former sensei. If it weren't for the difference in attire and Naruto's whisker marks, Kakashi would swear he was looking at a young Fourth Hokage.

Kakashi turned his attention to the other teen. Hinata had also changed greatly since the last time he'd seen her. Unlike Sakura who developed a rather slim figure or Ino who had grown tall and leggy, Hinata had a more curvy, yet athletic, build. She'd also grown her hair long and it now reached down past her shoulders. While Hinata's choice of clothing was more modest than what a lot of kunoichi wore, she seemed to have abandoned the baggy jacket that hid her features in favor of a hoodless, more form-fitting tan jacket that she wore unzipped. Under the jacket, Hinata wore a black t-shirt, a tan pair of cargo pants that reached midway between her knee and ankle, a kunai pouch on her right thigh, and a leather belt that had her gear pouch attached. However, the biggest change Kakashi noticed was in how Hinata carried herself. She still blushed when complimented and had the same gentle air about her, but she held her head high and looked him right in the eye when he spoke to her. The two and a half years training and traveling with Jiraiya and Naruto had obviously done wonders for the girl's confidence. Kakashi chuckled to himself, 'Kurenai is going to be pleased.'

Kakashi's amusement turned to surprise when he finally noticed how the two teens were standing. Hinata was leaning slightly against Naruto, who had his arm around the girl with his hand resting at her waist.

"I take it you finally figured it out," Kakashi asked his former pupil with a nod toward Hinata.

Naruto got a big grin on his face, squeezed Hinata closer, and comically nodded his head really fast like a little kid who'd just been asked if he wants ice cream.

"Damn, now I have to buy Asuma's team a week's worth of dinners," Kakashi said with a sigh.

"Wait a second! Did you and Asuma-sensei bet on whether or not I'd figure out how Hinata-chan feels about me?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi simply replied, "Yes."

"And you bet against me?!" Naruto asked with an expression on his face that was midway between shock and anger.

Kakashi just shrugged, "It seemed like a safe bet at the time. They just got back from a mission too. Choji is going to be ravenous."

Naruto's eyes were twitching in annoyance and a vein was clearly visible on his forehead.

Meanwhile, Hinata was struggling to keep a straight face. At first she had been surprised that Naruto was acting so upset, since he didn't seem to have a problem admitting he should have noticed her sooner. Then she saw a familiar gleam in her boyfriend's eyes and quickly realized what he was up to.

Naruto reached into the pouch on his belt to retrieve a green book the same size as the orange one Kakashi still held in his hand. "And to think I had a surprise for you, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said in an amused voice as he taunted his former sensei with the book.

"WHAAAT?! You… H-how… Th-that's…" Kakashi just stared wide-eyed at the book in Naruto's hand, _Icha Icha Tactics,_

"Maybe I should just hold onto this for a while, since you'll be too busy taking Team 10 out to eat this week to do any reading," Naruto said.

"Naruto-kun, you could give the book to someone else if Kakashi-san doesn't have time to read it. It's only three more months until it's officially released. I'm sure he doesn't mind waiting," Hinata played along. 'I can't believe I just said that!'

"Hmm, you're right, Hinata-chan, I bet that closet pervert, Ebisu, would appreciate this as much as Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said with a thoughtful look on his face. On the inside, however, Naruto was laughing his ass off. 'Way to go, Hinata-chan! We must have corrupted you more that I thought.'

Kakashi finally managed to compose himself. "You know, Naruto, you're absolutely right. As your former sensei, I should have had more faith in you," Kakashi said thoughtfully as he tentatively reached for the book.

Naruto's smile returned in full force, as he handed the gift over. Kakashi grabbed it and scooted back with the book close to his chest like he was afraid Naruto would try to take it back.

"It's really boring, but I think you'll like it. It's the first new book in the _Icha Icha_ series in three years," Naruto said.

"Baka. A kid like you wouldn't understand the beauty of that book. It's still a rare unreleased item too," Jiraiya grumbled as he stood on the street next to the utility pole Naruto and Hinata had run up. 'Still, I can't believe our sweet, innocent little Hinata just bullshitted Kakashi,' Jiraiya thought as he and Naruto made eye contact while grinning like proud parents.

Kakashi spaced out and felt like he was going to hyperventilate for a moment when he first opened the book. He'd been waiting for so long for the next book to come out, and here in hands he held the first copy in Konoha. The cover art was exquisite. The blurbs by the reviewers claimed it was "the author's best work to date' and 'guaranteed to give a nosebleed to even the most perverted readers.' It also looked to be twice as long as the next longest book in the series,_Icha Icha Violence_.

"Oh, Kami. Jiraiya even signed it," Kakashi gasped. "To Kakashi, my biggest fan and most loyal reader. Jiraiya," Kakashi read aloud.

"This is the best gift anyone has EVER given me, Naruto," Kakashi exclaimed as his one visible eye began to mist up.

Kakashi looked up then sweat dropped when he realized he was talking to himself. Naruto and Hinata were already walking down the street with Jiraiya discussing where to each lunch. He hurried to catch up.

" Right! Next stop Ichiraku's for ramen," Naruto shouted as he pumped one arm in the air. Hinata was walking along side the blond smiling and laughing at his antics.

Kakashi and Jiraiya followed the couple at a more sedate pace as Kakashi read his new book.

"As promised, I'll leave Naruto in your care," Jiraiya said quietly as he walked next to Kakashi.

The younger man looked at the sennin out of the corner of his eye and nodded.

"Do you know what Tsunade plans to do about the girl?" the Toad Hermit asked.

"She wants to place Hinata on my team along with Naruto and Sakura. It shouldn't arouse any suspicions," Kakashi answered. "I'm a person short of a full team, and Team 8 is currently inactive. Kurenai is pregnant and has asked to be assigned non-combat duties. Kiba Inuzuka has been working with another tracking team, and Shino Aburame is training with his clan for the next jounin exam."

"I'm sure being on the same team will make my two apprentices happy," Jiraiya chuckled, "You've probably noticed how they've grown rather 'fond' of each other."

Kakashi sighed, "Yes, I lost a wager with Asuma over that. However, I'm concerned about placing them on a team together. It seems like it puts Hinata needlessly at risk."

"No, I agree with Tsunade, it's necessary. Naruto can use much more of his 'tenant's' power than before, but it's an unstable power. He can barely control three tails of its power without losing control. Any more and his tenant's instincts take over. If that happens the only things that can stop him are Hinata or one of these seals, and I can't guarantee the seals will be one hundred percent effective," Jiraiya said as he handed five paper seals over to Kakashi. "More importantly, I'm afraid we're not going to be able to hide the Hyuuga clan's little secret for much longer. When that information is revealed those two's best chance of survival is going to be each other." Jiraiya let out a sigh. Kakashi looked over and noticed how worried the normally jovial sannin looked. "There's a good chance Akatsuki may make an attempt on Naruto soon. I'm going to leave in a day or two to see if my contacts have any new information."

Up ahead, Naruto and Hinata had come to a complete stop and Naruto was pointing down the street. "Sakura-chan! Granny Tsunade!"

"Eh? Naruto? Hinata?" the pink-haired teen asked in surprise.

'I'll give him a freebee on the name thing, just this once,' the Hokage thought wryly while smiling at the blonde and his training partner.

Sakura also smiled warmly at her former teammate. However, when Naruto ran up to the two women Sakura was startled when she noticed something.

"You've gotten taller than me!"

"Yeah, I guess I have," Naruto replied with a smile.

A nervous looking Hinata walked up to Naruto and Sakura. Naruto mentally kicked himself when he realized why. Sakura may have been his friend and teammate, but she was also the girl he'd had a crush on for years before he finally noticed Hinata. And despite her newfound confidence, Hinata probably still felt apprehensive about how he and Sakura would react to each other. In an effort to reassure her that she had nothing to worry about, Naruto put his arms around his girlfriend and kissed her on the top of the head. He could feel the tension in Hinata's body relax somewhat. Never the less, he made a mental note to have a talk with her about it the first chance he got.

"Hinata! Wow! You look incredible," Sakura squealed.

"Hehe, and it looks like someone's got a boyfriend," Sakura teased with a mischievous grin on her face as Hinata once again blushed. "It's about time you figured it out, baka," Sakura added as she took a playful swat at Naruto.

"So, I've heard," Naruto responded jokingly.

"Naruto-niichan," a voice rang out from behind the teens. Everyone turned around to look.

"Oiroke no Jutsu!" A very beautiful, and very naked, brunette haired woman stood in front of them on the sidewalk smiling seductively at the group.

Suddenly, the woman disappeared in a cloud of smoke to reveal a grinning eleven year-old boy wearing a long scarf.

"How was that? A real drool of a jutsu, wasn't it," Konohamaru asked.

"Konohamaru, I'm sorry. I'm not a kid anymore. From now on you shouldn't use that jutsu either," Naruto said in a serious voice. Konohamaru had a shocked look on his face at hearing his idol's words.

Sakura blushed and looked at Naruto with a slightly sad smile. 'So Naruto hasn't just matured in appearance. This makes me feel a little sad,' she thought while reminiscing about what things use to be like before the members of Team 7 when their separate ways. 'You really have become amazing, Naruto. Hinata is so lucky,' Sakura thought with a sigh. 'I'm sure you've come back with a lot of really great new jutsu too, right?'

All of a sudden Naruto began to yell, "Such a jutsu is now mediocre, Konohamaru! Behold! The new perverted ninjutsu I've been developing!! Here we goooo!!"

"Perverted Ninjitsu? You BAKA," Sakura screamed the last word as her punch plowed into Naruto's face and sent him flying before he impacted the street.

Sakura grabbed the now bloodied and bruised Naruto by the collar and began shaking him violently.

"I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN MORE THAN TWO AND A HALF YEARS AND WITHIN TWO MINUTES, YOU JUMP STRAIGHT INTO THAT! MORON!! I THOUGHT YOU HAD GROWN UP, BUT I WAS WRONG! YOU HAVEN'T CHANGED ONE BIT! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, ANYWAY? YOUR GIRLFRIEND IS STANDING RIGHT THERE. DID YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT HINATA'S FEELINGS," Sakura screamed at Naruto.

Kakashi grabbed said girlfriend by the shoulders to stop her from running to Naruto's aid. "Don't worry, Hinata," Kakashi told the worried Hyuuga in a calm voice. "They use to do this kind of thing all the time. Besides, Naruto's pretty resilient, and Sakura wouldn't seriously try to injure him, other than the odd lump on the head. He'll be fi…"

A loud boom interrupted Kakashi as Naruto once again slammed into the pavement, this time leaving a crater.

"Ouch! That had to hurt," Kakashi winced. "Okay, well, Naruto's still pretty resilient."

'Hey, hey, Sakura, calm down. Konohamaru's terrified," Jiraiya said careful as he tried to avoid being caught in Sakura's wraith. Konohamaru was trembling in fear and clutching the back of Jiraiya's vest.

Sakura took a deep breath dropped Naruto to the ground and stomped back to the group.

Naruto got up fairly quickly, and was instantly glomped by a concerned looking Hinata, who had finally been released from Kakashi's grasp.

"Okay, that's enough catching up on old times," Tsunade said. "Kakashi."

"Right," Kakashi said as he closed his new book. "Sakura. Naruto. Well, it's been a while hasn't it? Hinata, this is my first time to work with you, but I'm looking forward to it. The three of you will come with me on team-related missions from now on. It'll be different than it was before with me or Kurenai," Kakashi said. "It's no longer teacher and pupil. Starting today we're equal Konoha shinobi."

"But first," Kakashi said as he held up three bells, "I'm interested in seeing how you three have developed."

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**Author's Notes: **

**So there you have it, the first chapter of my first fanfic. Any reviews are welcome, but no flames please.**

**The main pairing is going to be Naruto and Hinata, that's not going to change. The chapters as I have them planned are going to get progressively further away from the canon storyline as I go.**

**Naruto's new outfit is basically his Part II outfit with dark gray in place of the orange and the jacket worn unzipped.**


	2. Chapter 2: The Bell Test

**Faith of the Heart**

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**Chapter 2: The Bell Test**

Kakashi lead Sakura, Naruto, and Hinata to Training Ground 3.

"I remember this place really well," Naruto said.

"Yeah," Sakura added.

"Ah, that's right. This was the place where you two and Sasuke first trained, isn't it."

Naruto and Sakura looked lost in their memories and didn't respond. Even Kakashi looked somewhat saddened.

Hinata stood a short distance away debating what she should do. What she wanted to do was comfort Naruto, but at the same time she felt like she was intruding on an intensely private moment for the members of the old Team 7.

Naruto noticed Hinata leaning against one of the training posts watching them. The sight startled Naruto, and for a brief moment he could see in his mind's eye a twelve year-old, lavender-eyed girl wearing a light blue blouse standing in the same place.

'You make mistakes, and you get stronger from them. I believe that is true strength,' Naruto heard the soft, quiet voice of the girl in his memories say.

'Hinata was right back then. I can't let Sasuke's memory depress me. I made mistakes. Maybe I could have done more to stop Sasuke from leaving, but that's in the past now. All I can do is get up, move forward, and live my life to its fullest. I'll bring Sasuke back eventually, but until then I've still got the rest of my precious people," Naruto thought.

Naruto's blue eyes met his girlfriend's lavender ones, and he started to smile. It was not one of the fake smiles he used to hide his sadness and frustration behind when he was younger but a warm, true smile. A light blush started to spread across Hinata's cheeks as she returned his smile.

'Thank you, Hinata-chan.'

Hinata stepped out from beside the training post and moved next to Naruto and Sakura.

Kakashi did not miss the silent exchange between the couple or the sudden change in Naruto's expression. More than that, Kakashi saw how the change in Naruto's mood affected Sakura. Naruto seemed to radiate strength and determination, after he looked away from Hinata. When Sakura saw the change in Naruto, it appeared to snap her out of her own dark thoughts. Kakashi smiled under his mask as both of his former students looked up at him with a renewed light in their eyes.

"Oi, Kakashi-sensei, can we get a move on it. You're keeping me from Ichiraku's. That ramen isn't going to eat itself, you know," Naruto called out. Sakura just rolled her eyes while Hinata giggled.

"Sure thing, we all know how dangerous it is to get between you and your ramen," Kakashi answered nonchalantly, earning a glare from Naruto. "Anyway, like last time, the goal is for you to grab a bell before time is up. If you don't come at me with the intent to kill you won't succeed. The time limit is dawn tomorrow."

Sakura, Hinata, and Naruto traded looks with each other. Sakura turned toward her former-sensei with an almost evil smile as she slide on a pair of leather gloves, while Naruto wore his patented foxy-grin. Even Hinata had a mischievous look dancing in her eyes.

"Riiiight," Kakashi said warily as he put his book away and uncovered his Sharingan eye, "For some reason, I think I should take this a bit more seriously than last time."

The jonin took a deep breath and then looked up at the three teens before him, again. He could see the tension in all three's stances as they prepared to attack or defend when he gave the word.

"Begin," Kakashi barked at the three teens.

Naruto started it off by throwing a single shuriken in Kakashi's direction.

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," Naruto said as his hands formed the familiar hand seal for shadow clones. Suddenly the single shuriken headed toward Kakashi turned into dozens.

Kakashi was about to do a Kawarimi to get out of the way of the attack. He never got a chance. Naruto yelled out another jutsu, "Bunshin Daibakuha!" The barrage of shuriken exploded twenty feet away from Kakashi. The explosions stunned Kakashi for a moment but did not injury him. However, the brilliant flash of chakra released by the Bunshin Daibakuha so overloaded his Sharingan eye that he was seeing spots.

Naruto didn't give Kakashi a chance to recover as he came charging out of the cloud of dust kicked up by the explosions. Still unable to use the Sharingan, Kakashi fell back on his regular vision and prepared to block the punch Naruto had started to throw.

'That's not Naruto!' Kakashi realized as the wind changed directions blowing the scent of his attacker toward him.

Suddenly 'Naruto's' hand switched from a fist to a flat palm strike, a _glowing_ palm strike.

'Oh, shit,' Kakashi thought as he finally figured out who was really attacking and jumped to the side in order to dodge the strike, rather than blocking it.

'Naruto' released the henge to reveal Hinata who instantly dropped into a Gentle Fist stance.

A puff of smoke obscured Kakashi as he finally preformed the Kawarimi he was originally going to use to get out of the way of the shadow shuriken, rather than risk fighting the Hyuuga girl hand-to-hand without the use of his Sharingan.

The three teens started scanning the area for the masked jonin.

"He's underground!" Sakura and Hinata shouted in unison, the pink-haired teen having figured it out just as her teammate spotted Kakashi.

"HIIIYAAHHH!" Sakura screamed as she slammed her glove-covered fist into the ground causing both Naruto and Hinata to fall flat on their butts as the ground cracked and heaved upward from the force of the blow.

A terrifying thought occurred to Naruto, as he felt the ground continue to reverberate from the force of Sakura's punch. 'Was she actually going _easy_ on me earlier?'

A gust of wind blew enough of the dust kicked up by Sakura's punch away to reveal a wide-eyed Kakashi among the rubble.

"I found you, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said sweetly.

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"She's already mastered your super-strength technique?" Jiraiya gawked a short distance away, where he and three others watched the test. 

Tsunade smiled in amusement at her fellow sannin's reaction to her apprentice's accomplishment. "What can I say? I have a talented apprentice. Well, that and she had a great teacher," Tsunade said somewhat smugly. "Of course, I could say the same about Naruto and Hinata. I've never seen the Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu combined with Bunshin Daibakuha before, and using it to temporarily blind Kakashi's Sharingan to the fact that Hinata was using a henge was brilliant."

"Wish I could take credit for it, even if it didn't work, but the Brat and Squirt actually came up with that little trick on their own. Naruto figured out a way to mold the chakra for the Bunshin Daibakuha so there is more of a blinding flash of chakra than a concussive blast. Then Hinata suggested trying it with Shuriken Kage Bunshin rather than Kage Bunshin, and I think they developed the tactic of using the combination of the two jutsu as a diversion together. Of course, Naruto can still use the combo to create normal explosions if he simply wants to finish someone off or Hinata isn't available to help. Bunshin Daibakuha with even a single shadow clone requires a massive amount of chakra, but using it with Shuriken Kage Bunshin requires chakra on a magnitude several times greater. I doubt anyone but a jinchuriki would have enough chakra reserves to pull it off and still be able to continue fighting," Jiraiya pointed out with a grin from his perch on a branch above Tsunade and Shizune.

"You know," Tsunade added, "I think their attack would have worked on a full-blooded Uchiha or Hyuuga. The only reason Kakashi avoided Hinata's juken strike was because he is use to depending on his regular vision and other senses, since he can't use his implanted Sharingan as efficiently as an Uchiha, and managed to detect the incoming attack that way. An Uchiha or Hyuuga is more dependent on their bloodline and also would have been temporarily blinded in both eyes, not just one. What do you think Hiashi?"

"I believe you are correct, Hokage-sama. It will probably be several more minutes before I can use my Byakugan effectively again. I'm sure the effects would have been similar on an Uchiha," Hiashi agreed. In all honesty, Hiashi was completely stunned by just how effective his daughter and her boyfriend's tactic proved to be. The Hyuuga head had been so dazzled by the chakra flare it produced that he'd been forced to deactivate his Byakugan. Even a minute and a half later, his vision with the Byakugan activated was still somewhat hazy. "If anything, a strong Sharingan or Byakugan user would be even more vulnerable than a weak one since their eyes are more sensitive to chakra."

"Speaking of that, I'm sorry I didn't give you more warning about what they were going to do, Hiashi," Jiraiya apologized.

"That's quite alright, Jiraiya-sama," Hiashi replied.

A slightly confused expression crossed Shizune's face. "How does Hinata avoid having her Byakugan blinded?"

"Extremely good timing. She doesn't activate her Byakugan until the instant after the explosion. The down side of that is she has to do at nearly the same time she puts up the henge, and if they mess up the timing she could be affected by the chakra flash just as much as the target," Jiraiya answered.

"I told you those two were good," Jiraiya slyly added upon seeing the expressions on the others' faces as they thought about the level of skill and teamwork involved in what the Sannin described.

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**Several Hours Later**

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Twenty of Naruto's shadow clones rushed Kakashi. Ten disappeared in puffs of smoke within the next two minutes.

Hinata moved in to close off Kakashi's chakra points only to be flung toward a tree when Kakashi parried her one of her blows. She managed to flip around in mid-air so she could land feet-first when she hit the tree, but before she could return to the fight, the jonin vanished using another Kawarimi.

Kakashi reappeared a short distance away with one of the large trees that populated Konoha's training grounds between him and Hinata and Naruto. Suddenly, a shadow, barely visible in the illumination provided by the full moon, appeared on the ground in front of Kakashi. The jonin looked up and was greeted with the sight of Sakura hurtling straight toward him from above with her leg extended to deliver a kick. Kakashi tucked into a forward roll taking himself out of the path of Sakura's attack. The tree wasn't as fortunate, as Sakura's kick shattered its trunk at about the height Kakashi's chest would have been at if he had not moved. The masked shinobi sprung back to his feet just in time to see the severed tree come crashing to the ground. Kakashi then let fly a handful of shuriken and a pair of kunai at the three teens that stepped into the open a short distance from where the tree came to rest. Hinata's arms blurred into motion as she shredded the projectiles with beams of tightly focused chakra from her palms. Kakashi countered by dropping a smoke bomb and using Shunshin no Jutsu to put some distance between him and the teens.

"This is so not working," Sakura said in an annoyed voice.

After failing to take out the jonin in their initial attacks, Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura came up with the plan of taking advantage of one of Kakashi's few known weaknesses by continuously attacking the jonin to force him to use his Sharingan. As Naruto and Sakura had seen during their mission to the Land of Waves years earlier, Kakashi's transplanted eye significantly drained the jonin's chakra reserves the longer he used it. If all went according to plan, Kakashi would run out of chakra before they did, and then they could overwhelm him and take the bells. In theory, the plan should have worked. In practice, they were up against the legendary Copy-Ninja, Sharingan Kakashi, who had no intention of playing by their rules. The more experienced jonin had quickly caught on to what his opponents were trying to do within the first twenty minutes, and he would now only fight long enough to slow the teens down, wasting time his opponents did not have, before breaking contact to force them to waste even more time tracking him down again. At this rate, the three teens were going to run out of time well before Kakashi ran out of chakra.

"No kidding," Naruto said as he sent out the surviving shadow clones to search for Kakashi…again. "I thought for sure he'd come after us like the first time he made us do this."

Hinata activated her Byakugan and scanned the area, before deactivating it with a sigh. "He's using shadow clones again. I see one Kakashi over there," she said while pointing to her right, "another behind us, and a third back in the clearing."

"Which probably means none of them are him," Naruto grumbled.

"More than likely, Naruto-kun. I think he's worked out the effective range of my Byakugan," Hinata acknowledged. All three Kakashies were barely within the maximum radius of the area she could scan with her Byakugan, which was too big of a coincidence for any of them to be anything other than decoys. The genuine article was probably hiding in an entirely different direction from the clones somewhere outside of Hinata's field of view.

"You know, I don't think I ever realized just how good Kakashi-sensei really is until now," Naruto said to no one in particular as he plopped down on the ground next to a tree. "He's smarter than Shikamaru, better at taijutsu than Fuzzy Brows, can use his Sharingan better than Sasuke, has better senses that Kiba, knows more about ninjutsu that just about anyone, and on top of all that he has more experience than the three of us put together." While Naruto was speaking, Hinata sat down next to Naruto and rested her head on his shoulder. Sakura sat down next to Naruto on the other side with her back against the tree and took out a canteen.

"Yeah, no wonder we're having so much trouble catching him. We need to figure out a way to incapacitate him so we can grab the bells, rather than trying to take him on head on like we have been," Sakura said thoughtfully between sips of water. "Hmmm, he'll see through a genjutsu with the Sharingan, so that's out. And I can't imagine Kakashi-sensei getting caught in a booby-trap." Sakura's face scowled in concentration while she tried to come up with a workable strategy. Hinata frowned slightly and winkled her nose slightly, in an expression Naruto found adorable, as she joined Sakura in trying to think of a new plan.

Suddenly, Naruto broke out in laughter, startling the two kunochi out of their thoughts. "Oh, man! Why didn't I think of it before? It's so simple!"

"Okay, spill," ordered Sakura.

"Well, normally you'd be right. We'd never be able to catch him off guard, but Kakashi-sensei has another weakness. All we need to take advantage of it is the right kind of distraction." Naruto said as he fought to quit snickering long enough to share his idea with his teammates.

Sakura and Hinata both looked confused, so Naruto pulled the girls into a huddle and whispered to them what he had in mind.

"I-it, it's perfect," Sakura stammered out before collapsing in a giggling fit on the forest floor.

"Naruto-kun! That's too mean!" Hinata exclaimed. However after a minute or two, Hinata appeared to reconsider and joined her teammates in laughing. "Of course, that doesn't mean we shouldn't try it."

'Yup, Ero-sennin and I definitely corrupted Hinata-chan more than we thought.'

* * *

"What do you think they are planning, and where did Naruto take off too?" Shizune asked her mentor. They had spotted Naruto splitting off from the two girls a couple of minutes earlier. 

"With Naruto involved there's no telling. As far as where he went too…" Tsunade said before her voice trailed off as she turned to look at the branch Jiraiya was sitting on. A second later the blonde in question landed on the branch next to the Toad Sannin.

"Hey…what do you think you're doing, Brat?" Jiraiya growled at his apprentice.

"Sorry, Ero-sennin, but I need to borrow this," Naruto replied before taking off with an object he had pilfered from one of his sensei's pockets.

* * *

On the other side of Training Ground 3, a certain masked shinobi sat against the trunk of a tree trying to catch his breath. 

'I really did have it easier back then,' Kakashi thought with a chuckle as he remembered when he had given Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura the bell test nearly three years before. Although, they'd been more talented back then than he'd initially expected, he had easily toyed with the original Team 7 during their test, much to the three twelve year olds' annoyance and embarrassment. Sakura had been too focused on catching Sasuke's attention to do much of anything, Sasuke had been too obsessed with avenging his clan to be a team player, and Naruto, well, Naruto acted too much like Naruto to provide a decent challenge. The only good thing they had going for them was that they seemed to actually learn from their mistakes and came together as a team in time to pass the test.

This new Team Kakashi was quickly proving to be an entirely different animal all together. Where Naruto and Sasuke spent most of the time trying to out do each other, Naruto and Hinata's teamwork was, for lack of a better work, flawless. Of course, given their relationship and the fact they had spent the last two years and a half years training together, it wasn't much of a surprise. Naruto's rashness had been tempered, either naturally as he grew older and matured or by Hinata's influence. Kakashi had halfway expected Naurto to jump the gun like last time and attack before he gave the signal to start the test. Instead Naruto had worked with Hinata and almost succeeded in taking out his former sensei and gaining the bells with a brilliant ploy.

Sakura also showed signs of great improvement. After her first Chunin Exam and Sasuke's departure, Sakura had dedicated herself to growing stronger so she'd never be a burden to her teammates and so she could help Naruto bring Sasuke back. By all accounts, Sakura succeeded wildly in meeting her goal, and Kakashi was sure that one day she would surpass her mentor, Tsunade, in skill. Sakura also appeared to be a nearly perfect complement to Naruto and Hinata. Where Naruto was a brilliant tactician, a trait that had apparently rubbed off on Hinata if their opening move of the test was any indication, Sakura's raw intelligence made her an excellent strategist and planner. Simply put, Sakura excelled at figuring out _what_ they needed to do to accomplish their goals, while Naruto and Hinata were masters at figuring out _how_ to achieve the _what._

Kakashi was pleasantly surprised to find that the three teens were actually proving to be a challenge. What's more, he got the distinct impression Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura were holding back somewhat. Not that he wasn't, as well. Still...

"Yo, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto called out, startling Kakashi out of his thoughts.

'Damn, I let him sneak up on me,' Kakashi cursed to himself as he hopped to his feet and prepared to defend himself.

"Lookie what I found!" Naruto shouted with a grin as he held up a familiar green book. "You know, you could really use a bookmark, Sensei. There ya go," Naruto added as he stuck an explosive note in between the book's pages."

Kakashi stared at the book in Naruto's hand with his Sharingan activated hoping to see a genjutsu, but he began to panic when he realized it wasn't. "Y-y-you wouldn't!"

The explosive note began to sizzle as it ignited, and Naruto quickly tossed the book into the air where it exploded. The remains rained down like confetti over the masked jonin's head.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kakashi screamed before collapsing to his knees in tears. "Why? What on Earth have I ever done to you to deserve something like this, Naruto? Okay, sure I may have played favorites every now and then, and, yeah, maybe I shouldn't have used Sennen Goroshi on you that one time. But that still isn't justification for blowing up a man's most prized procession! I mean, come on! I've always tried to look out for you, too!"

Kakashi's rant was interrupted by a cough behind him. He looked back over his shoulder and saw a snickering Sakura and a guilty-looking Hinata holding the three bells, one of which they tossed to Naruto.

"Oh, quit being such a drama queen, Kakashi-sensei. _Your_ precious book is fine," The blonde laughed as he snatched the bell out of the air.

Sheepishly, only then did Kakashi think to check whether or not he still had his book. He reached back to his equipment pouch and found the tome was indeed still in one piece, right where he left it.

"Hey, that hurt, Ero-sennin!" Naruto angrily yelled a minute later as he nursed a large bump on his head.

"Good! You said you were going to 'borrow' that book not incinerate it," Jiraiya said coldly. Behind him, Tsunade, Shizune, and Hiashi walked out of the forest with amused looks on their faces.

"Let him be, Pervert. You wrote the damn thing; it's not like you can't get another," Tsunade said.

"H-hello, Father," Hinata said nervously as she bowed to Hiashi.

"It is good to see you again, Hinata. I was most impressed with you and your teammates' performance, even if the end of the fight was somewhat...unorthodox."

"Thank you, Father," Hinata said as she practically glowed after receiving the praise.

"Hyuuga-sama," Naruto greeted Hiashi with a polite bow, which Hiashi returned.

"It is good to see you, too, Uzumaki-san. I trust you have been taking care of my daughter," Hiashi asked cordially.

"Of course," Naruto replied with a smile.

Sakura was caught off guard by how polite and respectful Naruto and Hiashi were being toward one another. She didn't even know Naruto was capable of acting like that. However, she dismissed it as Naruto being on his best behavior for his girlfriend's father.

Tsunade motioned for everyone to come with her so the father and daughter could have some privacy. Naruto smiled at Hinata and gave her hand a squeeze before following the others.

Before they got out of sight of the two Hyuuga, Sakura took one last look over her shoulder and noticed that Hiashi was hugging a crying Hinata.

"What's going on, Naruto?" Sakura whispered as they headed for the clearing where the training posts were located.

"It's family stuff," Naruto said in a worried voice that clearly told Sakura that there was more to it than simply "family stuff." However, Sakura got the distinct impression that Naruto was either unwilling to or uncomfortable with elaborating, so she decided to drop the matter for the moment.

* * *

**Sunagakure, Thirty Minutes Later**

"Kankurou! This guy beat Gaara! What do you think you can do by yourself?" Baki yelled at his former student.

"You're just going to let them take him?!" the younger sand jonin growled angrily.

"That's not what I meant! Listen, just follow them, and don't fight, no matter what!"

"Find their hideout, we'll send a platoon to meet up with you, and then attack!" Baki shouted.

'Right, send them as fast as possible!" the black clothed puppet user called back over his shoulder as he took off after the two Akatsuki members.

'Damnit, Kankuruo! Matsuri!"

"Yes, Baki-sama," the young genin answered.

"Take this to the signals division, have them code it and send it out to Konoha on our fastest courier. Now!" Baki ordered as he handed the girl a handwritten message.

Matsuri took off as fast as her legs could carry her toward the Kazekage's tower, desperate to do anything she could to help get Gaara back.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to read my story and write a review. **

**Right now, I'm not completely sure how long it'll be between updates. This is my first fan fiction and I've got two more stories in the works, so we'll just have to see how things go. This last chapter took about a week to write. Some of the future chapters will be longer and may take longer to get out. Hopefully, after I get a few more chapters under my belt, I'll be able to give you a better idea of when you can expect updates.**

**There may be a lemon or two in this story, but I'm only going to put one in if I feel it contributes to the storyline in someway. **

**Naruto's new perverted jutsu may make an appearance in a later chapter.**

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**Jutsu**

**Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique): A-Ranked. A modification of the Shadow Clone Technique, the user throws one shuriken at the victim and then uses this jutsu to create multiple copies of the shuriken to make the attack more powerful.**

**Bunshin Daibakuha (Clone Great Explosion): A-Ranked. This jutsu works in combination with the Shadow Clone Technique to create a shadow clone that will explode on command. The blast created is considerable, and could potentially kill an attacker engaged in hand-to-hand combat.**

**Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement Technique): E-Ranked. This jutsu lets the user quickly switch places with another nearby object, such as a plant (normally a section of a log), an animal, or even another person within reach, leaving the opponent open to a counter-attack. Explosive tags can be attached to the replacement for an added surprise. Fundamentally, all ninja know this technique.**

**(Note: All jutsu definitions are directly from the Wikipedia entry on Naruto.)**


	3. Chapter 3: Full Circle

**Faith of the Heart**

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**Chapter 3: Full Circle**

**The Hokage's Office, Later that Night**

"So, why did you ask me here?" Jiraiya asked, after deciding it would be best to get down to business. It was rather late, even for a nightcap between old friends.

Tsunade's expression quickly turned more serious as she sat down behind her desk. "Have you heard about what's been going on in Kirigakure this past week?"

"Supposedly there's been another coup d'état attempt against the Mizukage. That makes what, three this year? I haven't had a chance to get in touch with any of my contacts in the Land of Water yet, so that's all I know at the moment," Jiraiya answered. "Why do you ask?"

"They succeeded this time; the Yondaime Mizukage is dead," Tsunade answered.

"'Bout time somebody knocked off that genocidal maniac," Jiraiya said as held up his sake glass in a mock toast to the unknown conspirators.

"There's more. We received this message from the Mist a few hours ago." She handed over a one-page letter to the Toad Sage.

"The new Mizukage wants an alliance?" Jiraiya asked in surprise as he read the letter. An alliance with the Mist, combined with the one the Leaf already had with the Sand, would cause a major shift in the balance of power of the shinobi world back in favor of Konoha, which was still recovering from Orchimaru's failed invasion three years earlier. It was an extremely bold move by the new Mizukage. True alliances were not something hidden villages entered into lightly, and to be offered one out of the blue was highly unusual.

"I guess it does makes sense from their point of view," Jiraiya said as he gave the matter more thought. "They've been weakened by years of civil war and the purges of their bloodline clans, and, right now, the new Mizukage is probably focused on consolidating power and getting things straightened out at home. An alliance with the Leaf would be a big political victory plus it would help deter the other hidden villages from trying to take advantage of the situation. I can also see why they'd want to approach us rather than one of the other shinobi nations. While we have never been on the best of terms with the Mist, we have never been outright enemies either. The same can't be said of Kumo and Iwa. The Cloud and Mist have sporadically fought each other of the last two decades over the Northwestern Islands, and Iwa is hostile to pretty much everyone. I'd also be willing to bet the new Mizukage is hoping an alliance with us would lead to an alliance with the Sand."

"I agree. An alliance with the Mist could be very good for Konoha in terms of security and trade, as well. The only problem is we still have no idea who the new Mizukage is or what the situation in Kirigakure is like at the moment," Tsunade replied.

"So you want me to make 'informal contact' with the Mist to get a feel for what's going on and to lay the groundwork for a more official meeting?" Jiraiya guessed.

"Exactly."

"Shouldn't be a problem. I need to check on my informants in the Land of Water, anyway," Jiraiya added with a shrug.

"When can you leave?"

"I'll head out at first light, that should let me reach Kirigakure by the end of the week."

"Perfect," Tsunade replied with a relieved smile. That was one headache out of the way.

"Oh, before you go I found something you might want to have. I remember you said you lost yours a few years back." Tsunade opened her desk drawer and pulled out a framed photograph that she handed to Jiraiya.

Jiraiya stared at the old photograph that showed a younger version of himself standing behind three genin. It brought back a lot of bittersweet memories for the sannin. They were sweet because those few years with the three youngsters as his pupils had been some of the happiest, most enriching in his life. The bitterness came from the painful realization that of the four people in the photo, he was the only one still alive. Nori had been the first to go, a victim of some nameless battle in the Konoha-Iwa War. The next had been his protégé, Minato, who gave his life to protect the village from the rampaging demon fox. The last was Michiko who died shortly after her second child was born due to complications with the birth. After her death, Jiraiya vowed to never take on another genin team or apprentice. Being a shinobi was a dangerous occupation, but losing your entire team in less than two years, even if they were not officially your students anymore, would leave a lasting impression on anyone. However, time had done much to heal those wounds, and, as Jiraiya recalled the first time he met one of his latest apprentices, he realized how glad he was that he hadn't kept the vow.

* * *

**Flashback: Konoha, December 29****th****, 15 Years Ago**

The eighty-one days following the Kyuubi's attack had been some of the worst in Konohagakure no Sato's history. The demon had devastated the village. Sixty percent of the buildings in the village were either destroyed or so badly damaged that they would have to be torn down. Even worse hit were the village's fortifications and infrastructure. The demon fox had leveled nearly a mile of the massive stonewall that surrounded the village during its rampage, and the village's engineers were worried other sections were structurally unsound due to the earthquake-like shaking the demon caused during the attack. The rebuilding task was further complicated by the fact that the power station that supplied the city with electricity had been destroyed in a single swipe of one of the fox's tails. It would probably be another month before the construction of the replacement power station was finished and all of Konoha had electricity again. An even bigger crisis was the shortage of potable water. The water level of Konoha's main reservoir had to be dropped to a dangerously low level to prevent a catastrophic collapse of its dam, which had also been damaged during the attack. The damage to the dam had been repaired, but it would take several more weeks for the water level to return to normal.

However, the material loses paled in comparison to the loss of life. The civilian deaths numbered over five thousand, but the toll could have easily reached the tens of thousands if it had not been for the sacrifice of Konoha's defenders. Fully a third of Konoha's shinobi were killed defending the village. Especially hard hit were the medical ninjas, as many of them had died while trying to pull the injured out of the path of the rampaging kitsune.

Despite the severity of the damage and the high death toll, the loss that hit Konoha the hardest was the death of the Hokage and his young wife. The Yondaime Hokage was widely held to be the strongest ninja Konoha had ever produced. When he was named Hokage, most of the village welcomed it as the beginning of a golden age for Konoha. The war with Iwagakure, which the Yondaime had played a major role in winning as a jonin, had been over for little more than three months, and Konoha was experiencing the beginnings of a post-war baby boom when the announcement came. The village simply fell in love with their young, handsome new Hokage who always took the time to talk with the villagers and listen to their concerns or share a hearty laugh during his frequent walks through the streets of Konoha. The village was equally smitten with the Hokage's mysterious and beautiful young wife, who, unlike her husband, preferred to stay out of the public eye. Never the less, she could frequently be found strolling arm-in-arm with her husband during one of his walks, and her warm, yet mischievous, smile and the musical sound of her laughter soon endeared her in the hearts of Konoha's citizens just as her husband's gregarious nature had.

However, all good things come to an end, and the end for the Yondaime Hokage and his wife had been especially tragic. The Hokage sacrificed his life to stop the Kyuubi by sealing it away in an infant, sentencing his own soul to an eternity of torment in the belly of the Death God in the process. His wife, who was rumored to be eight months pregnant with the couple's first child, died when the west wing of the hospital collapsed into a pile of fiery rumble. The village was not even able to identify her remains so she could be laid to rest alongside her husband since her body had been reduced to ashes in the inferno. Instead, they were forced to entomb her remains in a mass grave with the ashes of the other victims of the collapse and subsequent fire. After the funerals, the people of Konoha handled their grief in different ways. Some buried themselves in their work and rebuilding. Others left Konoha never to return. More than a few found an outlet for their grief in misdirected anger toward the infant the Yondaime had sealed the Kyuubi in, despite their fallen leaders last request that the boy be regarded as a hero.

Especially hard hit by the loss of the Yondaime Hokage was Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin. Jiraiya had not only been the Yondaime's sensei, advisor, and friend, but also shared something akin to a father-son relationship with the Yondaime, who had grown up as an orphan. When the Kyuubi attacked Konoha, Jiraiya had been in the Land of Wind trying to track down his traitorous former teammate, Orchimaru. When news of the demon fox's attack reached the white-haired sannin, he raced back to Konoha only to arrive just in time to see the young Hokage end his own life in a blinding flash of light to seal the demon. The loss of the young man he loved like a son and the young woman he had begun to regard as a daughter devastated the normally jovial sannin, and he quickly sank into a deep depression, even temporarily withdrawing from those closest to him in the wake of the attack. In fact, the only thing Jiraiya still seemed to be passionate about was expressing his rage at the fact his former student's dying wish was not being respected by the village he died to protect.

All of this was common knowledge among the populace of Konoha, so the sight of the legendary sannin Jiraiya walking through the streets of the village with a huge grin on his face caused many to stare in wonder and others to run to see if Konoha's bathhouses, which had been closed due to the water shortage, had reopened. However, the return of Jiraiya's good mood was not due to the resumption of his favorite perverted hobby but the news that his sole surviving student had recently given birth to a healthy baby girl. It had been the first good news he had gotten since the attack. As soon as he had returned from his latest mission and heard the news, Jiraiya decided to make his way to his former student's home to meet the new addition to her family for the first time.

When Jiraiya arrived at the estate of his student's clan, he was quickly shown in and led to a suite of rooms toward the back of the main house.

"Greetings, Jiraiya-sama, Lady Michiko has been expecting you," the young woman who answered the door of the suite said before showing Jiraiya to the nursery.

When Jiraiya walked into the nursery he was greeted with the sight of an attractive woman with dark blue eyes and long black hair, that had a slightly bluish sheen to it in the sunlight streaming in through the nursery window, sitting in a rocking chair with a small bundle in her arms while softly humming.

"Michiko?" Jiraiya asked in a quiet voice out of fear of waking the baby.

The young woman looked up as a smile began to appear on her face.

"I was wondering when you'd show up. It's okay, she just woke up a few minutes ago."

Jiraiya grinned and walked up to the mother and daughter.

"Well she's got Hiashi's eyes, but luckily for her it looks like she got the rest of her looks from you," Jiraiya laughed as he saw a pair of pupil-less lavender colored eyes looking up at him from the blanket the infant was wrapped in.

"Oh hush, Jiraiya-sensei," Michiko Hyuuga said with a laugh as a light blush spread across her cheeks in response to the indirect complement, even if it was at the expense of her husband. Her sensei loved to joke about her marrying Hiashi, although she knew he was one of the few Hyuuga the sannin genuinely respected.

"What did you and the 'Ice Cube' decide to name her?"

"Hinata Kushina Hyuuga," Michiko said with a slightly nervous look as she waited to see how her former-sensei would react.

"I like it. I think Minato and Kushina would have approved, too," Jiraiya answered with a smile as he thought of his friend and his friend's wife for the first time since their deaths without feeling an overwhelming sense of sadness. "Especially, since you were so close to both of them."

Michiko relaxed when she saw Jiraiya's reaction. She'd known he would approve of her naming her newborn daughter after the Yondaime's wife, especially considering Kushina Uzumaki had been her best friend since they were both ten years old, but she had still worried about throwing salt on her sensei's fresh wounds.

"Would you like to hold her for a minute?"

"I'd love to. You want to come see your Uncle Jiraiya, don't you, little Hinata-chan. Yeah, I thought you did. You are such a cutie. Yes, you are," Jiraiya said as he carefully picked Hinata up and held her in his arms.

Michiko fought back the urge to laugh at hearing her sensei, one of the most powerful shinobi in the world and an admitted super pervert, cooing and talking to her two-day old daughter with a cutesy baby voice.

"Have you heard any news about Naruto?" Michiko asked.

"Sarutobi-sensei is keeping Naruto for the time being. He's got Rin and Kakashi helping watch after him. Sensei finally got those idiots on the village council who wanted to kill the kid 'to keep the Kyuubi from escaping' to shut up, but he's still dealing with Danzo and his followers who want to turn Naruto into some kind of weapon."

"I wish Hiashi-kun and I could adopt him, but the Hyuuga council is dead-set against it. A few of the council members are just being idiots, but a lot of them are genuinely concerned it would place the members of the clan in danger. I can't really blame them after the near riot when the Sandaime announced the Kyuubi had been sealed in Naruto," Michiko sighed.

"I thought about adopting him too, but Old Ape Face nixed it," Jiraiya grumbled.

"By the way, how are Rin and Kakashi holding up?"

"Kakashi is handling it surprising well, but Rin is still depressed. I think helping watch after Naruto is good for her, though. He keeps her too busy to mope around," Jiraiya replied. "That boy is going to be a handful one day," he added with a chuckle as he remembered how ragged the normally neat and tidy Rin looked with spit-up on her shoulder and strands of her hair going in random directions when she'd answered the Third's door the day before.

"Yes, I heard he's pretty lively for a baby who isn't even three months old yet," Michiko said with a smile. "I just wish we could tell everyone who Naruto's parents are. It would make everything so much easier for him," she added as her smile began to turn into a frown. "I actually slapped one of the Hyuuga council members a couple of weeks ago when I heard him talking about the 'demon spawn' like Naruto wasn't even a human being. I don't think I've ever been angrier in my life. I just wanted to scream out that Naruto is Minato's son."

"I know what you mean. I haven't been doing a very good job keeping a lid on my temper either when it comes to Naruto," Jiraiya sighed.

There was a moment of silence before Jiraiya chuckled and asked, "So you really slapped one of the council members, huh?"

"Yes, I did. According to Hiashi-kun, Haru had a handprint on his face for the better part of two days," Michiko replied.

"Well if it was Haru Hyuuga, I'm sure most of the clan was cheering you on. Haru's always been a jackass."

"Michiko, as much as I hate to admit it, I think Minato was right in asking that Naruto's heritage be kept a secret," Jiraiya said in a more serious voice. "It might be easier on Naruto if the whole village knew he was the Hokage's son, but it'd also put his life in more danger due to all of his father's enemies. The last thing the boy needs is Iwa and Kumo coming after him in addition to the few crazies here who wouldn't care whose son he is. Don't worry, though, I'll make sure Naruto's told when the time is right."

Michiko gave Jiraiya a look that said she didn't agree but would go along with it, as she reached up and took back her daughter, who was starting to get a little fussy. "I think she's getting hungry."

Jiraiya smirked and looked like he was about to make a comment when Michiko interrupted him, "If you make one crack about breastfeeding, so help me Jiraiya, I will kick your ass! And don't think I can't do it just because I had a baby a couple of days ago!"

Jiraiya held up his hands defensively. "Come on Michiko-chan, you know my students are where I draw the line when it comes to being a pervert."

"True, at least when it came to me, although I'd be willing to bet my mother being friends with Tsunade-sama had a lot to do with that," Michiko replied.

Jiraiya sighed in an exaggerated fashion. "I remember when you were a shy, sweet twelve year old genin that I had trouble getting to talk. I wonder what happened to that little girl."

"She spent a few years following a pervert and two knuckleheads around the world and was never quite the same," Michiko said as student and teacher shared a laugh.

"Well, I happen to think the time you spend with Minato, Nori, and me was good for you, and I really am proud of you, Michiko. I'm sure you'll be a great mother to Hinata."

Michiko blushed at the praise, "I think it was good for me, too, and thank you."

"I should probably get going so you can feed little Hinata-chan. I'm leaving for a mission to the Land of Lightning this afternoon. I'll stop by again when I come back in a week or two," Jiraiya said.

"Okay, stay safe, Sensei," his former student replied, suddenly worrying about something happening to the only other surviving member of her old team, despite him being one of the legendary sannin.

"Don't worry, I will."

"Now you be a good girl and don't cause any trouble for your momma," Jiraiya said to Hinata as he gently touched her nose with the tip of his finger. Both adults laughed when Hinata went cross-eyed trying to follow the sannin's finger with her eyes.

* * *

"Do you like it?" 

"Huh? Yeah, I like it. Thanks. Sorry if I spaced out there for a minute, I was remembering the time I visited Michiko right after Hinata was born," Jiraiya answered.

It was one of the few good memories Jiraiya had of those dark days, tainted only by the knowledge of what happened after he left the Hyuuga estate.

Guessing why Jiraiya's happy expression began to fade, Tsunade spoke, "It wasn't your fault, you know? You had no way of knowing what they were planning."

"I know, but it still feels like I failed Michiko and Hinata, somehow," Jiraiya sighed.

"So when are you going to tell Naruto about his parents?" Tsunade attempted to change the subject.

"When he turns sixteen in three months, like Minato instructed in his letter."

Jiraiya began laughing drawing a perplexed look from Tsunade. "When I tell Naruto, I wonder if I should also mention Michiko wanting to adopt him after he was born. Can you imagine the look on his face when he realizes how close he came to being Hinata's brother instead of her boyfriend?"

At the mental image of Naruto's likely reaction, Tsunade spewed a mouthful of sake across the paperwork on her desk.

"Don't you dare tell him…unless I'm there with my camera."

* * *

**Author's Note (Added on 9/7/2007):**

**I am unaware of whether or not the Japanese really use middle names as we do in some Western cultures, but I'm going to use a bit of literary license to give Hinata one.**


	4. Chapter 4: Shelter from the Storm

**Faith of the Heart**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Naruto**_** or any of the characters created by Masashi Kishimoto.**

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**Chapter 4: Shelter from the Storm**

**The Next Morning**

Hinata woke up in her new bedroom and let out a long, loud sigh. She was use to waking up to the noise of Naruto banging around in the kitchen or by the campfire, half-awake, trying to fix his morning ramen and Jiraiya's snoring, which could be heard echoing throughout whatever building they happened to be staying in. A few days ago the sounds would have annoyed her to no end, but now she missed them. It was too quiet, too lonely. The silence and the sight of moving boxes she woke up to in her empty apartment were depressing, especially when she had been expecting to wake up at home this morning.

After two and a half years on the road, Hinata had been unsure of how she felt about returning to Konoha, or more specifically returning to the Hyuuga clan. While she had been traveling and training with Naruto and Jiraiya she'd been free of the strict lifestyle and pressures involved with being heiress to Konoha's most powerful clan. It had been liberating not having to worry about being the 'proper Hyuuga' that everyone in the clan expected her to be. For once, she'd been allowed to be a teenage girl instead of a "mini-adult" heiress.

Still, there were good things about her old home that she missed. After never spending more than a few weeks in the same place for the last two and a half years, she had dreamed of sleeping in her warm, fluffy bed in her own room. She also looked forward to sitting in her favorite spot under the willow tree in the garden where her mother use to read to her when she was little and seeing the kindly old cook in the main house kitchen who always kept a supply of her favorite cookies on hand, just for when Hinata got back from a long mission. More than that Hinata missed her other friends. She loved Naruto dearly and wouldn't trade a second of the time they'd spent together for anything, but she missed spending time with the rest of the Rookie Nine and Team Gai, especially her old teammates. Hinata even missed her little sister, despite the fact Hanabi had officially entered her 'pest' stage shortly before their departure from Konoha.

What made it worse was that her homesickness was the one thing that she couldn't really talk to Naruto about. He was more than willing to listen when she tried, but Naruto had never had a real home before, so homesickness was a foreign concept to him. Sure, he missed the village, Ichiraku's Ramen Bar, and, especially, his friends, but he'd never experienced what it was like to have a real family to come home to. That thought made Hinata even sadder, and she'd vowed that one day she'd change that for her Naruto-kun. One day, they'd have a real family and home together. But, in the meantime, that goal did little to make her feel any better.

So when her father had told her she'd have to live outside the Hyuuga estate, at least for the time being, Hinata broke down in tears. She understood it was for her own good. She even agreed with her father's reasoning on the matter. The risk of discovery was too great if she lived at the estate, and they were going to have a hard enough time keeping the rest of the clan in the dark as it was. But she had wanted to go home, and, emotionally, it brought back too many memories of the time her father had pawned her off on Kurenai-sensei right after she became a genin. To Hinata's surprise, her father seemed to realize why the news had been so distressing to his eldest daughter and looked genuinely understanding and remorseful as he let her cry on his shoulder. The whole episode had an element of surrealism to it for Hinata, as she had trouble believing her father could be so supportive.

After she'd had a chance to collect herself, the Hyuuga patriarch walked Hinata to the two-bedroom apartment he had leased for her to live in. The apartment had a wonderful balcony, huge rooms, a giant whirlpool bathtub, and an incredible view of the Hokage Monument. The apartment was even close to Naruto's apartment and the Sarutobi estate, where her former jonin-sensei, Kurenai, now lived. All in all, it was a very nice place to live; it just wasn't home.

This is what occupied Hinata's thoughts as she woke up in her new apartment for the first time. She rolled over in bed with the intention of doing nothing more than closing the curtains, pulling the covers over her head, and going back to sleep. However, when she reached up to close the curtains she found herself staring into a pair of familiar blue eyes. She blinked a couple times in surprise. There, hanging upside down outside the window next to her bed, was Naruto with his face pressed up against the glass making funny faces. Hinata burst into laughter. Naruto pulled his face away from the windowpane and grinned. "Oi, sleeping beauty, I come bearing sticky buns," he said as he held up a bag from one of the village bakeries.

Hinata opened the window, and Naruto hopped down to the windowsill and crawled inside onto Hinata's bed. She pulled Naruto into a hug and kissed him as soon as he was all the way inside.

"Mmm, I'm definitely going to have to do this again," Naruto sighed as their lips parted.

"I love you so much, Naruto-kun," said Hinata, still slightly breathless from the kiss. It completely baffled her sometimes how Naruto could have been so oblivious to her feelings for him for so long, yet now be so sweet and supportive whenever she needed him most.

"I love you, too. I figured after how upset you were last night you could use a little pick-me-up," Naruto replied, happy that he'd been able to snap his girlfriend out of the funk she'd been in.

Naruto smiled as he gently moved a strand of hair that was hanging in front of Hinata's face behind one of her ears. She looked so cute first thing in the morning with her hair going every-which-way, especially when she had one of those warm, gentle smiles on her face like she did now. It made him wonder for the millionth time why it took him so long to notice her. Hinata began pulling him down into bed with her, before Naruto reluctantly interrupted. "You know, as much as I like where this is headed, and I _reeeeaaallly_ like where it's headed, we've got to meet Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan at the mission room in a little over an hour. So, why don't you get showered and dressed, and I'll have breakfast ready by the time you're through."

Hinata pouted in protest, but her stomach, which let out an extremely loud growl when the smell of the freshly baked cinnamon buns finally reached her nose, betrayed her.

"Or we could eat first, and then you can get ready," Naruto said with an amused smirk as Hinata blushed in embarrassment and buried her face in his shoulder.

* * *

**The Hokage Tower Mission Room**

'So much for the more mature Naruto,' Tsunade thought before she leaned back in her chair to watch the three teens standing before her. To her right, Iruka was banging his head against the table, while, to her left, Kakashi wore a look that could only be described as, 'why me?'

"Sakura, please let Naruto-kun out of the headlock," Hinata begged.

"Not until he promises to shut up," Sakura replied. "I'm not going to deal with a pissed-off Hokage just because _your_ _Naruto-kun_ wants a better mission."

"Besides, I know Naruto wants to promise me he'll be quiet. Don't you Naruto?" Sakura said as she lifted Naruto's head up slightly so he could look her in the face.

Naruto shook his head no and stuck his tongue out. Sakura pushed Naruto's head back down and tightened her grip around his neck eliciting a squeak of pain from the blonde.

"But he's turning blue! How is he suppose to promise you anything if he can't even breathe?" Hinata asked in astonishment.

"Him passing out will work, too," Sakura shrugged.

The two girls were interrupted when a chunin burst into the room.

"AIR!" Naruto gasped as he managed to break free when Sakura momentarily loosened her grip in surprise. Hinata quickly yanked her boyfriend out of Sakura's reach, while shooting an angry glare at the other girl.

"Hokage-sama! Emergency message from Sunagakure!" The chunin said as she tried to catch her breath after running all the way from the aviary.

"Well, let's have it."

"The Kazekage has been captured by two members of the organization Akatsuki! Suna is requesting any and all aid we can send!"

"Gaara," Naruto quietly said to himself.

Tsunade looked at the clipboard in front of her while she tried to decide what to do. The smart thing to do would be to recall another team, and send them after Akatsuki instead of Team Kakashi. She looked up at Naruto for a moment and sighed when she saw the determined look in his eyes. 'He will try to rescue Gaara, orders or no orders, and Hinata will probably follow him. More importantly, Suna needs help now, and they're the best team I have available. Recalling another team will take at least one or two days, and by then it may be too late.' Tsunade stood, she really only had one option.

"Team Kakashi, you have a new mission. You are to travel to Sunagakure, assess the situation, and send a report back to Konoha. After that, follow any orders from the Sand and back them up. Dismissed!"

* * *

**The Land of Wind Desert, 65 Hours Later**

"I can't stand it any longer! We're so close!" Naruto said as he stood up to leave the cave they'd taken shelter in after encountering a sandstorm an hour earlier.

"Naruto-kun, please don't," Hinata asked.

"I'd listen to her," Temari calmly said from where she sat further back in the cave. "Whenever there's a sandstorm, the best course of action is to sit it out. It's easy to lose your way once you head into one. That's usually what happens when you hear about people dying in this desert. They end up fighting against the storms and wear themselves out while getting more and more lost." Temari, who had been acting as Sand's liaison to Konoha for the upcoming Chunin exam, left Konoha for her home village just hours before news of the Akatsuki attack reached the Leaf. Fortunately, Team Kakashi had caught up to the Sand kunochi less than a day into their journey.

"But we've got Hinata-chan! You can see through the sandstorm just like you did with that blizzard in the Land of Snow last year, right?"

"Naruto-kun, I had landmarks to go by when we got caught in the snowstorm, but there's nothing to see here but sand dunes. We could end up wandering in circles and I'd never be able to tell," Hinata answered gently. She was as anxious to get to Suna as Naruto but getting lost would only slow them down.

"Damn it, Naruto, just deal with it, okay!" Sakura yelled.

Hinata frowned at her teammate. She'd about had it with Sakura. She'd been on Naruto's case since they left Konoha. 'Why does she always have to be so mean to Naruto-kun? Can't she see how worried he is? Doesn't she wonder why he's acting like this? Does she even care?'

"I don't know why you're getting so worked up, anyway! Temari's the one who should be the most upset! It's her brother! There is no reason at all for you to be acting like this!" Sakura ranted, completely missing the growing anger visible on Hinata's face. Sakura got up fully intent on hitting Naruto to make him sit back down. "Quit being such a dumbass!"

Sakura reared her fist back to hit Naruto from behind when, in a flash of purple chakra, she found herself thrown up against the wall of the cave by an enraged Hinata. The Hyuuga girl had caught Sakura's punch in mid-throw with her left hand and had a tight grip on the pink-haired girl's throat with her right.

"DON'T YOU DARE HIT NARUTO-KUN!" Hinata yelled in the other kunochi's face.

Sakura trembled in fear at the sheer power of the killing intent rolling off Hinata. What's more, when Hinata's anger caused her to unconsciously activate her Byakugan, instead of the barely visible pupils that normally appeared, cat-like slitted pupils that had a slight yellowish glow to them became visible. Hinata's canine teeth also seemed to grow slightly before Sakura's eyes. The combination of the teeth, glowing eyes, and the bulging veins of her activated Byakugan gave the normally kind-faced Hinata a terrifying appearance in the darkness of the cave.

Naruto was so surprised by the his girlfriend's outburst that he fell flat on his butt, while Kakashi and Temari could do nothing but stare with their mouths hanging open.

Sakura tried to strike back with her free arm, but before she could react Hinata lightly stuck a single spot on her stomach. When Sakura attempted to mold her chakra in order to use her strength technique she found her chakra system was going haywire.

"Don't bother, I created an imbalance in your chakra system. You'll have worse chakra control than a third year academy student for the next fifteen minutes," Hinata growled.

"Why?" Sakura gasped.

"Because you keep trying to hurt Naruto-kun, that's why! All he has ever tried to do was love you and be your friend, and all you ever do is yell at him and abuse him in return! How many times has Naruto-kun saved your life? Five times? Ten times? A hundred? Don't you think the very _least_ you could do is be a little patient with him? Of course not! You'd rather spend three days bitching about why he is so anxious to help Gaara-san! Did you even stop for one second to ask him why instead of yelling at him or trying to hit him? For that matter, did you even wonder why Akatsuki is after Naruto-kun and Gaara-san in the first place?" Hinata continued in a voice that dripped with venom as she shoved Sakura against the wall, again. "I'll tell you why. Naruto-kun has the demon fox, Kyuubi, sealed within him, and Gaara-san has the Shukaku sealed within him."

Hinata paused for a moment to take a deep breath. "…just like I have the Nibi sealed within me. That's why Akatsuki is after Naruto-kun and Gaara-san, and that's why they'll be after me too as soon as they figure out I'm a jinchuriki. We aren't even human to them; we're just monsters whose power they can steal. Monsters or weapons, that's are all we are to a lot of people. Naruto-kun and Gaara-san both had to grow up hated and feared by their villages. It drove Gaara-san insane; it's a miracle it didn't do the same to Naruto-kun. You try living with the fact that people fear and hate you because of something that you had no choice in. You try living in fear because you are being hunted by an organization that has every intention of killing you just so they can use the power sealed inside you to harm others. That's why Naruto-kun is so anxious to save Gaara-san, because he doesn't want Gaara-san to have to suffer anymore than he already has! HOW'S THAT FOR A REASON?" Hinata yelled as tears began to run down her face.

With that Hinata let go of the other teen's throat and ran off into another chamber of the cave.

"Hinata-chan, wait…" Naruto called out as he scrambled to his feet and chased after her. He didn't even stop to ask if Sakura was okay as he ran by.

Sakura slid down the cave wall until she ended up sitting on the ground, rubbing her throat.

"You know you had that coming, right?" Temari asked the still shocked Sakura.

"H-have I really been acting that bad?" Sakura asked in a trembling voice.

"Umm, yeah," Temari responded in disdain. "If I was her, you'd have gotten a fan upside the head about two days ago, and you don't even want to know what I would have done if I was Naruto."

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura asked still not wanting to believe, "Is what Hinata said about her and Naruto true? I thought the Kyuubi was killed by the Yondaime."

Kakashi sighed. He should have anticipated this. Kurenai had warned him that the only times she had ever seen Hinata lose her temper, or even have one for that matter, had been when someone was insulting Naruto. Given that Sakura, despite the fact that Naruto was one of her closest friends, tended to insult, yell at, and/or hit the boy on a daily basis, something like what he'd just witnessed was almost inevitable. The best he could do now was try and explain things to Sakura and hope this didn't drive a wedge between the members of his team.

"Yes, Sakura, Hinata was telling the truth," Kakashi finally answered. "Not even the Yondaime could kill the Kyuubi. It was simply too strong for any human to defeat. The only way to save the village was to seal the Kyuubi. The problem was a demon as powerful as the Kyuubi couldn't be sealed in an inanimate object. The only vessel that could hope to contain the Kyuubi was a newborn infant whose chakra system hadn't fully formed yet."

"And Naruto was born on the day the Kyuubi attacked," Sakura quietly said as the pieces began to fall into place in her mind.

"Yes, he was. The Yondaime's dying wish was for everyone to see Naruto as a hero for protecting the village from the Kyuubi, instead they treated him like he was the Kyuubi himself or at least possessed by it. The Sandaime Hokage ended up having to pass a law to make it illegal to reveal that the Kyuubi was sealed inside Naruto to your generation. He hoped it would allow Naruto to live a somewhat normal life. Unfortunately, the law didn't work, and the prejudices and hatred of those who were old enough to remember the Kyuubi's attack were passed on to their children," Kakashi said with sadness evident in his voice.

By this point Sakura was beginning to feel horrible. She remembered how her own parents had warned her to keep away from Naruto, and she remembered hearing the parents of others in their academy class doing the same. But instead of hating or fearing Naruto, they had all interpreted their parents' words as meaning there was something wrong with him. As a result, they'd made fun of Naruto and ostracized him. Instead of correcting them, a lot of kids' parents encouraged the behavior. Sakura felt sick to her stomach. She'd never been so ashamed of herself or her village as she was at that moment. 'Hinata is right, Naruto has shown me nothing but kindness, and I've treated him like dirt in return without even knowing why I was doing it. I'm just as bad as everyone else, if not worse.'

"W-what about Hinata?" Sakura asked. "How can she have a demon sealed in her? I know things weren't all that great for her at home, but no one ever treated her like they did Naruto."

"Do you remember the story about what happened to Hinata's uncle that Neji told during his Chunin Exams match with Naruto?"

"I think so. The Cloud pretended to be interested in signing a peace treaty with Konoha, but they were really using the treaty as cover for an attempt to steal the Byakugan by kidnapping Hinata. Hinata's dad killed the kidnapper, who happened to be the Cloud representative to sign the treaty, and the Cloud threatened war if we didn't turn over their ninja's 'murder.' Neji's father, who was Hinata's father's twin brother, took his place since his Byakugan would be sealed when he died. Right?" Sakura said.

"Pretty much," Kakashi confirmed. "The reason I brought it up is that was not the first time Kumo shinobi tried to kidnapped Hinata…"

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**Author's Notes**

**Sorry for the cliffhanger. You'll get to hear the full story of Hinata and the Nibi in the next two chapters.  
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	5. Chapter 5: Legacy of the Nii, Part 1

**Faith of the Heart**

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**Chapter 5: Legacy of the Nii, Part 1**

"What do you mean it wasn't the first time Kumo tried to kidnap Hinata? I don't remember hearing anything like that before?" Sakura asked.

"That's because it was covered up, and I said 'Kumo shinobi,' as in shinobi from Kumogakure, not 'Kumo,' as in the village itself." Kakashi answered

Sakura and Temari looked at Kakashi with confused looks on their faces.

"The first kidnapping was actually carried out by a single clan from Cloud without the permission of the Raikage. It was slightly less that three months after the Kyuubi attacked Konoha. About a third of our forces had been wiped out and the village's fortifications were in shambles. As you can imagine, a lot of people outside of Konoha saw our weakness as their opportunity. We had to deal with raids by groups of missing nins and the other shinobi nations testing our defenses for months after the attack. That's the natural way things work in the shinobi world, after all. When you find weakness, you exploit it. Konoha was weak and everyone knew it, since we couldn't exactly hide the fact that the most powerful demon known to mankind had decided to go on a rampage through the village. The Cloud's Nii clan was among those who decided to take advantage of the situation."

"Wait a second," Temari interrupted. "I've been to Kumogakure half a dozen times, and I've never heard of a Nii clan."

"There's a good reason for that," Kakashi said before pausing and pulling out his book. Drawing angry glares from both kunoichi. Kakashi ignored them as he searched for his page.

"The Nii clan doesn't exist anymore," Kakashi continued just as Temari was about to jump down his throat for stopping in mid explanation to read. "The Nii lost a lot of people in the Cloud's war with the Mist that was going on at the time, and they were never a large clan to begin with. At the time of the Kyuubi attack, there were only ten or twelve members of the clan left."

"So, the Nii tried to kidnap Hinata to gain her bloodline and help rebuild the clan?" Temari asked, still somewhat irked at the jonin.

Kakashi chuckled at something, whether it was Temari or something he read, the two girls couldn't tell. "That's part of it. The main reason though was that the Nii had fallen out of favor with the Raikage. A little over two centuries ago the head of the Nii clan managed to seal the Nibi no Nekomata inside his daughter. From that point on, the Nibi was passed down through the Nii clan from generation to generation. Much like your village has done with the Shukaku, Temari. The difference is the Nii kept the Nibi within their clan, because controlling a jinchuriki meant the Nii had more political power in Kumogakure than a non-bloodline clan of their size normally would. However, during the war with the Mist, the Nibi's previous jinchuriki, a teenage girl by the name of Yugito Nii, was mortally wounded in a battle with the Mist's own jinchuriki. Unlike with the Kyuubi, you can seal some of the 'weaker' bijuu inside inanimate objects temporarily, so the Nii were able to extract the Nibi from Yugito before she died and seal it within a statue."

"Yeah, we had to do something similar with Shukaku," Temari added. " One of the village elders sealed him inside a teapot for almost six years before he was transferred to Gaara."

"A teapot?" Sakura asked.

Temari sighed. "Let's just say the village elder who did the sealing has a weird sense of humor. Granny Chiyo continued to use the teapot after she sealed the Shukaku in it. I think she got a kick out of seeing how people reacted when she told them they were drinking tea brewed in a teapot with a demon sealed in it. Now that I think of it, I've even heard her call Gaara her 'little teapot,' a time or two."

Kakashi and Sakura just stared at Temari for a moment.

"Not to his face, though. She's not _that_ crazy. Most of the time," Temari hurriedly added, mumbling the last part.

"Oookay then, back to the story," Kakashi said. "The problem the Nii had was there were no newborn infants or pregnant women in the clan when Yugito died, so the Raikage was pressuring them to allow the Nibi to be sealed in someone from outside the clan. The head of the Nii clan refused, and, as a result, the clan fell out of favor with the Raikage, losing most of its wealth and political influence in the process. However, the Raikage had also been trying to obtain the Byakugan for years. So when the Nii clan learned the head of the Hyuuga clan and his wife were expecting a baby, they saw it as the perfect opportunity for the Nii to get back in the Raikage's good graces by obtaining both the Byakugan and a new host for the Nibi. A couple of nights after Hinata was born, the Nii raided the Hyuuga compound.

* * *

**Konoha, The Night of December 29****th****, 15 Years Earlier**

Michiko cupped her hand behind the flickering flame as she blew out the last candle lighting the nursery. She took one last look at her sleeping daughter before quietly slipping out into the hallway.

"Lady Hyuuga," a Branch Family member said with a bow as Michiko turned to go to the master bedroom across the hall from the nursery.

"Emi, for the last time, you don't have to call me that when it's just the two of us," Michiko said in a kind-hearted voice as she playfully wagged a finger at the seventeen year old girl her husband had assigned to help her around the house. "Lady Hyuuga is Hiashi-kun's mother. Just call me 'Michiko,' okay?"

"Sorry, Lady Michiko," Emi replied.

"Don't worry about it," Michiko sighed as she gave up on getting the teen to quit being so formal. "Would you mind keeping an eye on Hinata-chan for an hour or so while I take a shower? She's been fed and I just got her to sleep, so she shouldn't give you any trouble," the slightly older woman asked.

"I do not mind at all, Lady Michiko," Emi replied.

Michiko gave the teen a quick hug. "Thank you, Emi. I don't know what I would have done without you these last few weeks. You've been a God-send."

"You are welcome," Emi said after a moment, having been caught off guard by the hug.

With that Michiko entered her bedroom and grabbed a change of cloths out of her closet along with a towel, washrag, and her other toiletries out of the master bathroom. She then proceeded to the Hyuuga estate's bathhouse on the other side of the estate from the Main House.

A little over an hour later, Michiko exited the bathhouse wearing a standard black Hyuuga training uniform, one of the few outfits she owned that fit right at the moment, while silently saying her thanks for the century old system of oil-fired water heaters and spring fed cisterns that had allowed her to enjoy one of the few working hot showers in all of Konoha. Although she couldn't wait to be able to bath and shower in her own bathroom again, a short walk was a small price to pay to feel human again. 'Besides it's a nice night for a stroll through the gardens,' She thought with a relaxed smile.

However, the further Michiko got from the bathhouse the less relaxed she felt. Something seemed off. It was nothing specific that she could put her finger on. Instead it was more of a gut feeling that something was wrong, and she had learned to trust her instincts. It was something her former sensei had drilled into her as a genin. "Better to feel foolish about being worried when nothing was wrong, than to be dead because you were worried about feeling foolish," Jiraiya had always told them. 'Sensei actually said some wise things when he wasn't being a lecher,' Michiko smiled to herself.

With Jiraiya's lesson in mind, she veered off the path she had been following when one of the guards patrolling through the garden came into view. As she got closer to the guard, Michiko noticed that he was one of the younger genins from the Branch Family who had just graduated from the academy three weeks earlier. "Saburou," Michiko called out as she motioned for the twelve year old to meet her halfway.

The young genin jogged over to Michiko. "Lady Hyuuga, how may I serve you," Saburou said with a deep bow.

Michiko returned the bow while resisting the urge to tell the young genin not to call her 'Lady Hyuuga.' "Who's on watch tonight?" she asked, thinking she would first make sure there were experienced guards on duty and then urge, Ichirou, the watch commander to be extra vigilant tonight. Ichirou was an experienced jonin and would understand her concerns.

"Taro, Minoru, Shou, Arata, and myself. Arata-sama is in command, my Lady," the young genin rattled off the names.

This information startled Michiko; not only was there someone besides Ichirou in charge, but normally twice that many Hyuuga were supposed to be on watch at all times. She was also certain that out of all the names she had just heard, only Arata was even a chuunin.

Michiko noticed the young genin nervously shifting his weight back and forth from foot-to-foot as he stood at attention. "Saburou," Michiko said gently not wanting the make the boy any more nervous than he already was, "what happened? There are supposed to be ten guards on duty, and isn't Ichirou-san, not Arata-san, supposed to be in charge of the watch?"

"I'm sorry, Lady Hyuuga! Haru-sama ordered Ichirou-sempai and the four other jonin and chuunin on watch to accompany him to inspect the Hyuuga on sentry duty at the breach in the village's outer wall! Ichirou-sempai didn't want to leave his post, but Haru-sama activated his seal for refusing and threatened to do the same to the rest of us," Saburou shot off nervously.

Michiko felt a sinking feeling forming in the pit of her stomach. Not only had Haru disobeyed her husband's order that no one in the Main Family was allowed to activate a Branch Family member's seal except in self-defense or to protect another from harm, but he'd essentially left the estate defenseless. There was simply no way four genin and a chuunin could properly guard or defend the estate without leaving major holes in the perimeter. What did Haru think he needed five escorts for anyway? One, maybe two, she could understand, but five! And to take away half the guards away tonight of all nights when she and the guard force were the only shinobi on the grounds of the estate was sheer lunacy!

Michiko forced herself to calm down when she noticed the poor genin before her trembling like a leaf, probably expecting to be punished. "It's not your fault Saburou-san," she said to the boy in what she hoped was a reassuring tone of voice. Saburou calmed noticeably, but still appeared rattled. "May I borrow your radio?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Saburou answered as he handed over the earpiece and throat mike of the radio all the guards wore.

"Thank you, Saburou-san," Michiko replied gently.

"Ichirou-san, come in. Over," Michiko said as she held the mike to her throat. She heard nothing but static come out of the earpiece in reply. 'That's odd, he should be in range.' Michiko tried again, "Ichirou, it's Michiko, do you copy? Over." She still heard nothing but static. Michiko tried to contact the other guards on watch. "Status check. All guards report in. Over." Again, She received no reply. 'Please, let me be wrong about this,' Michiko silently prayed as she switched to the ANBU frequency. "This is Sparrow to any ANBU patrols in the vicinity of the Hyuuga Estate. I have a possible code orange; I say again, I have a possible code orange. Please, respond. Over." Once again, only static came out of the radio's earphone. That was both good and bad. It was good, because it might mean she was being paranoid and the only things wrong were a Hyuuga council member being a pompous ass and a guard with a busted radio. It was bad because if the radio wasn't broken it meant the frequencies their radios used were being jammed and there were most likely intruders inside the walls of the estate.

"Saburou, come with me," Michiko ordered as she headed toward what appeared to be a large garden shed a short distance away.

Once they were inside the shed, Michiko opened a fuse box on the wall and flipped a circuit breaker switch. This caused Saburou to stare in confusion since the Hyuuga estate, with the exception of the guardhouses that had backup generators, had been without electricity since the Kyuubi attack nearly three months earlier. He was about to ask what she was doing when the stone floor beneath his feet began to slide open. The young genin hopped out of the way as the opening widened to reveal a set of stairs leading underground. Michiko headed down the stairs and motioned for Saburou to follow. Like most bloodline clans, the Hyuuga had built a number of hidden escape tunnels and shelters built into their estate, so the mere existence of the tunnel at the bottom of the stairs didn't surprise Saburou. What did surprise him was that he hadn't known this particular tunnel was there.

Seeing the confused look on the genin's face, Michiko said, "There are several tunnels and shelters that are kept a secret from all but a select few in case someone from within the clan betrays us."

"What's going on? Do you think Haru-sama betrayed us?" Saburou quietly asked. It made him nervous the Lady Hyuuga believed she had reason to even consider revealing this tunnel to him.

'That's a good question,' Michiko thought as she turned down a side tunnel a few feet from the bottom of the stairs. While Haru had his faults, to the best of her knowledge he had always been loyal to both the clan and the village. 'Still it is odd that he'd take half the guards with him like that.' When Michiko reached the end of the short side tunnel, she flipped a switch that activated the emergency lighting revealing a small armory room with racks of weapons and equipment.

"I'm not completely sure yet," Michiko answered truthfully as she grabbed a katana; an equipment pouch full of kunai, shuriken, and other basic ninja supplies; and another radio out of the armory's racks. "There may be nothing wrong except for a problem with your radio, but my gut tells me it's something more. As far as what Haru did, the timing is rather suspicious if there really is something happening, but it could easily just be Haru acting like a baka. He is prone to doing that."

"Tell me about it," Saburou groaned in a very un-Hyuuga like manner, before he remembered he was talking to a member of the Main Family, and the clan head's wife at that, and quickly slapped a hand over his mouth.

Michiko giggled at the boy's reaction. "Thank you, Saburou-kun. That's the first time one of you has acted like a normal person around me since I married Hiashi-kun."

The boy gave Michiko a strange look as he uncovered his mouth and said, "You're welcome…I think."

Michiko affectionately ruffled the genin's hair as they headed back to the stairs. When they reached the garden shed, she turned on the radio she had retrieved from the armory and once again tried to contact the guards and the ANBU patrols. The result was the same as before. "I was afraid of that; there's nothing wrong with your radio. What can you see outside with your Byakugan?"

Saburou activated his bloodline limit. He was slightly annoyed with himself that he hadn't thought to do so earlier. "I can't see anyone outside, not even the other guards." He looked shaken up by something after he focused his vision in a single direction to look at the main guardhouse that was slightly further away. "I-it's A-a-arata-sama. He's laying face down on the floor of the guardhouse. I, I th-think he's dead."

"Okay, Saburou-kun, that means there are intruders inside the estate," Michiko said in a voice that was much calmer than she felt. "What I need you to do is follow the escape tunnel and get help. It comes out about half a mile away on the edge of Training Area 8. When you exit the tunnel start broadcasting on the ANBU frequency. Tell anyone you can get in touch with that the Hyuuga compound is under a stealth attack by an unknown number of shinobi. Then I want you to run to the village council chambers and get my husband. Can I depend on you to do that?" Michiko looked the genin straight in the eyes.

Saburou took a deep breath to steel his nerve before speaking, "It's my duty to defend the clan and our home. I want to stay here with you and fight."

Michiko smiled at the boy's bravery. The most dangerous mission he'd probably been on so far was catching the Daimyo's wife's cat, but here he was prepared to stay at his post and defend his family even knowing the intruders had already killed one of his comrades. "Saburou-kun, you _will_ be doing your duty and defending the clan by going to get help. Besides, I'm a big girl; I can take care of myself," Michiko said with a wink as she lifted her sleeve to show him the ANBU tattoo on her upper arm. The genin's eyes bugged out in surprise at the sight of the tattoo. The identities of the members of ANBU were kept secret, so few inside the clan knew she had been one before marrying Hiashi.

"So can I count on you?" Michiko again asked Saburou. The genin nodded. Michiko leaned forward and gave the boy a quick kiss on the cheek, "That's for luck." Saburou's face invented two new shades of red before he turned to run back down the steps to get help.

Michiko shook her head in amusement, 'I thought I was the only one who blushed like that.' It was something Minato, and her best friend Kushina, had always enjoyed teasing her about, dubbing her the "blushing beauty of Team Jiraiya," which of course only made her blush more. In fact, when she joined the ANBU shortly after her former teammate became Hokage; Kushina decided to have a little fun with her by having bright red blush marks painted on the cheeks of her ANBU mask. 'Too bad I'll never have the opportunity to get her back for that one,' Michiko thought sadly before she realized she was letting her mind wander from the task at hand. 'Snap out of it girl, you've got a job to do. You don't have time to be reminiscing about lost friends,' Michiko chided herself. With that, Michiko Hyuuga silently slinked out the door of the shed and vanished into the shadows.

'It has to be Cloud shinobi doing this. They certainly want the Byakugan badly enough, and they've got that weird raiton jutsu that can block radio signals with electrical interference. They're probably working to take out the estate's security and secure their escape route before they move on to their main objective, so I should have enough time to make sure Hinata-chan is safe before I deal with them,' Michiko thought as she tried to plan out a course of action. Despite what she said to Saburou earlier, Michiko wasn't sure how'd she fair in a real battle at the moment. She may have been a former-ANBU, but she was a former-ANBU who hadn't done any serious training in months and had just given birth fifty-one hours earlier. Her chakra system was still realigning itself now that it no longer had to supply chakra to both her and her unborn baby, and she had no idea what would happen if she tried to perform any jutsus.

'Damn it! They're already this far inside the estate,' Michiko thought as she spotted the first of the intruders. 'Guess I'm going to have to do this the old fashion way.' She drew a kunai and silently closed the distance between her and the much larger man who had his back to her. With a surprising amount of strength for someone her size, Michiko drove the kunai into the man's body at the base of his skull cutting upward to sever the spinal cord before slicing into his brain stem. The man was dead before he had time to react to the pain of the kunai's razor sharp point piercing the skin of his neck. Michiko caught the corpse before it could hit the ground and dragged it out of sight behind some shrubbery. The man's forehead protector confirmed her suspicions that the intruders were indeed from Kumo. "One down," she whispered to herself as she slipped back into the shadows to begin working her way toward the Main House.

Michiko peaked around the corner of a house just down the path from where she killed the first Cloud shinobi, only to quickly pull back. Six missing-nins and two more Cloud jonins were in the garden between her and the Main House where Emi and her daughter were located. She frowned. 'Why would the Cloud hire missing-nins for this kind of mission? Something doesn't add up.'

A woman's scream followed immediately by her baby's crying made Michiko's head jerk up. At the same time, the flickering glow of lanterns and the beams of flashlights began to illuminate the estate as the Hyuuga civilians, awakened by Emi's scream, got out of their beds. Michiko silently cursed; she was out of time. Taking a deep breath, she drew her sword from its sheath and rounded the corner to face the eight intruders.

The nearest missing-nin charged Michiko with his sword at the ready. She sidestepped to her left using her own blade to deflect her opponent's weapon. Quickly spinning around as they passed each other, Michiko's katana slashed at the missing-nin's neck. She didn't even spare her first opponent a second glance as she turned to face the remaining seven. The sound of the missing-nin's head hitting the ground followed a second later by the louder thump of his body told her all she needed to know. "Two down," She growled at the ninja that blocked her path.

* * *

Saburou reached where the escape tunnel ended at a flight of stairs that seemed to terminate at a stone panel in the ceiling. Seeing nothing else in the tunnel but a large lever mounted on the wall next to the bottom of the stairs, Saburou pulled the lever. There was a creaking sound as the panel slid back to reveal the night sky above. Saburou let out a sigh of relief as he started up the steps. About halfway up the flight of stairs, a masked and gray-haired head appeared upside down right in front of the genin's face and said, "Yo." 

Saburou let out a startled cry and fell backwards down the stairs he had just climbed up.

"That's just sad. How do you let someone surprise you when you have bloodline limit that gives you nearly 360-degree vision?" Kakashi asked with a sigh when he saw the slightly younger Hyuuga boy sprawled out on the floor at the bottom of the stairs.

"Kakashi! Quit tormenting that genin and find out what's up with the tunnel," a girl's voice called out from the road on the other side of the bushes.

'Okay, Rin, don't get your panties in a knot!" Kakashi yelled back after sitting up.

The only response from Rin was a rock that sailed over the bushes and beamed Kakashi in the head.

"Hey! That hurt!" Kakashi whined.

"GOOD!"

While Kakashi was distracted, Saburou managed to make his way back up the steps. As soon as he was face-to-face with the fourteen year old jonin, He blurted out, "TheHyuugaestateisunderattackIneedtofindtheANBUandLordHyuugapleasehelpme!"

"Say again?" Kakashi asked as he rubbed the side of his head where the rock had hit.

"The Hyuuga compound is under attack and you need to find the ANBU and Hiashi-sama. That's what you said, right?" a brown haired girl with red tattoos on her face said as she stepped through the bushes.

Saburou pointed at the girl and nodded excitedly.

"Oh, why didn't you say so? I don't know where Hiashi-sama is, but if you give me that radio I'm sure I can help with the ANBU," Kakashi added as he nodded toward the radio the young genin had momentarily forgotten he still wore.

* * *

Kakashi and Rin speed through the trees on their way to the Hyuuga estate. They had radioed the ANBU only to discover that all the available patrols were responding to a raid by a group of missing nins on the other side of the village. The two older teens sent Saburou on to the council chambers to find Hiashi while they proceeded to the Hyuuga estate to help Michiko and any of the guards that might still be alive. They decided to travel through the trees of Training Ground 8 instead of taking the safer but slower route provided by the escape tunnel. The decision nearly cost them their lives. 

"SUITON: DAIBAKUFU NO JUTSU!" a woman's voice screamed out from within the Hyuuga estate. A giant waterspout rose at least two hundred feet in the air before it came crashing through the outer wall of the estate. Kakashi and Rin were barely able to scramble out of the way of the swirling vortex of water before it tore into the tree whose branches they had just been in.

"I think sensei's friend is pissed," was all Rin could think to say as they watched the waterspout pass a few feet away from where they landed.

When the jutsu dissipated, the two young Konoha shinobi spotted a Kumo ninja literally embedded in a boulder and two missing-nins who had been driven into a pair of trees with such force that the hundred-year-old oaks snapped in half like toothpicks. The path of destruction lead from the three downed shinobi back to a gaping hole in the stone outer wall on the other side of which was the large garden that surrounded the estate's Main House.

"Well, at least she made it easy for us to find her," Kakashi shrugged before he took off in the direction of the breach in the estate's wall. Rin paused for a moment to look at the three victims of the jutsu. Even from a distance she could tell it was too late for her skills to do them any good. She turned and ran to catch up with her teammate.

**End of Chapter 5: The Legacy of the Nii, Part 1**

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
**

**I ended up splitting this chapter into two parts. Originally, this chapter was going to be two to three times longer than what I have posted in the past. However, the majority of you who have commented on the length of the chapters have expressed a preference for chapters that are the length of the first four chapters or shorter, and more frequent updates. So I decided to go ahead and post what I have for you to read, while I work on finishing up the rest of the chapter, which will become Chapter 6.**

**The most commented on topic by those of you who reviewed Chapter 4 was the Nibi being sealed in Hinata.**

**For those of you who don't know, the Nibi no Nekomata (Two-Tailed Demon Cat) is one of the tailed beasts like Kyuubi and Shukaku that was introduced in chapter 313 of the Naruto Manga. (Although, the Nibi's jinchuriki is introduced in chapter 312.) Wikipedia has a good entry on the Nibi, which says:**

"_**The two-tailed demon cat is a fire-breathing, flaming cat sealed within Yugito Nii of Kumogakure. Soon after her introduction Yugito is captured by Akatsuki members Hidan and Kakuzu, though it is unknown which was specifically assigned to capture her. Despite luring her two pursuers into a closed space, sealing the exits, and transforming herself into the demon cat, Yugito was overpowered and rendered unconscious by the two Akatsuki members. Zetsu later arrives to take her off their hands, and she later dies as a result of having the beast extracted from her."**_

"_**Although the two-tailed demon is depicted as a Nekomata, it doesn't directly seem to exhibit the same abilities as the legendary creature. The nekomata of folklore was said to animate and control the dead, while this nekomata has fire-based abilities. However, this is an indirect reference to a Japanese belief that spirits of the dead manifested as airborne flames, similar to will-o-wisps."**_

**There is also a picture in the entry of the Nibi as it appears in the Manga.**

**I know several other authors have written stories where Hinata has the Nibi sealed within her, but I can't speak for their reasons for using the Nibi, only my own. There are two reasons why I chose to have the Nibi sealed in Hinata in this story. The first is the Nibi being sealed in a Cloud ninja offered an interesting, and hopefully believable in the context of the Naruto world, way for Hinata to become a jinchuriki. My second reason is we know more about it than any of the other nine bijuu, save Kyuubi and Shukaku, and I thought it would be an interesting challenge as an author to 'flesh out' the already established story of the Nibi. (Okay, I'll admit it. The other reasons I gave are true, but the main reason is I just think the Nibi is cool. Deal with it.)**

** As a special bonus feature for my readers, I'm posting an alternate version of Chapter 1 below. I tend to write several very different rough drafts for each chapter as I play around with ideas and add and delete scenes. I thought some of you might enjoy reading one of the better examples of this. If enough people like the idea, I will continue to post these drafts and deleted scenes at the end of each chapter.**

* * *

**Faith of the Heart**

**Chapter 1: Homecoming (Alternate Version)**

"I missed this place!" Naruto yelled out from the top of the utility pole.

On the ground two figures looked up the blond teen.

"He's certainly cheerful today, isn't he," the older of the two said.

"Did you expect otherwise, sensei? He is my Naruto-kun, after all," the voice of the second replied as her face lit up with a smile.

"No, not really. _Your_ Naruto-kun, huh? Well, I'm glad someone's willing to claim him," Jiraiya responded with a chuckle, earning a fake pout look from the teenage girl, which had the sannin chuckling even more.

Naruto looked out over Konoha with a smile. It had been two and half years since he last set foot in his hometown. 'Eh,' Naruto thought to himself when he looked at Konoha's most famous landmark, 'so they've added Tsunade's ugly old mug to the mountain. When I become Hokage, I'm going to make sure my face on the mountain is smiling. That expression makes Baa-chan look like she's constipated or something.'

Naruto's gaze drifted back to the street as he prepared to leap from his perch. His eyes settled on three familiar people sitting around a table at an outdoor café two blocks away.

He quickly jumped down from the pole and grabbed the hand of the girl standing next to his sensei before pointing toward the café with a grin.

The girl's smile grew even brighter as her sharp eyes spotted the three people the blond had seen from the top of the pole.

Jiraiya just shook his head in amusement when his two students took off running down the street before he starting walking in the same direction at a more sedate pace.

At the café, three jonins were enjoying their afternoon off. Kakashi was lost in his favorite book; oblivious to the daggers Kurenai had been glaring at him since he drew the book from his vest pocket. Sitting between the two, Asuma, having long since decided he was better off pretending he was unaware of the antics of his wife and friend, calmly flipped through his newspaper while occasionally taking sips of his tea.

"Kakashi-sensei! Kurenai-sensei!"

Both jonin looked up as the two teens that shouted out their names skidded to a stop in front of their table.

"Yo," Kakashi said lazily before flipping the page of his book.

"Hinata? Naruto? Is that you?" Kurenai asked in surprise.

Naruto laughed, "Yup, it's us. I guess we do look a little different from what you remember, huh?"

"That's putting it mildly, Naruto," Kurenai replied, as all three jonin took in Naruto and Hinata's new appearances.

Naruto was no longer the short, hyperactive kid clothed in a "kill-me" orange jumpsuit they remembered from two and half years ago. He'd apparently had a growth spurt and caught up with, if not surpassed, the rest of the Rookie Nine in height. The trademark whisker marks were still there, but the teen's face had lost much of the baby fat he'd had when he left Konoha. Jiraiya's training had done wonders for Naruto's physique, as well. The three jonins could tell Naruto had packed on some muscle and his shoulders were fairly broad for someone his age. However, the most unexpected change was in Naruto's clothing, as Jiraiya or Hinata had apparently talked some sense into the blonde about his color choices for mission clothing. Naruto was wearing dark gray cargo pants and ninja sandals along with a black t-shirt. Over this he wore an unzipped waist length black and dark gray jacket. A kunai holster was strapped to his right thigh, and a ninja supply pouch was attached to his belt. The only orange visible on the outfit was on the spiral-shaped clan crest on the shoulder and back of the jacket. The cloth of Naruto's Konoha forehead protector was now black instead of blue and held his slightly longer and more untamed blond hair out of his face. Kakashi was amazed by how much Naruto reminded him of his former sensei. If it weren't for the difference in attire and Naruto's whisker marks, Kakashi would swear he was looking at a young Fourth Hokage.

Hinata's appearance had undergone an equally radical change. Unlike Sakura who developed a rather slim figure or Ino who had grown tall and leggy, Hinata had developed a more curvy, yet athletic, build. She'd also grown out her hair , which now reached down past her shoulders. While Hinata's choice of clothing was still more modest than what a lot of kunochi wore, she no longer hid her figure under baggy cloths and now wore more form-fitting attire. She was wearing tan pants that reached just below the knee and had her kunai pouch strapped to her right leg. Hinata also wore a black short sleeve shirt and a lightweight, hoodless waist-length jacket the same color as her pants. However, the most noticeable change was not her cloths but the way she carried herself. While Hinata still blushed and had the same gentle air about her, she seemed much less timid and much more relaxed and confident.

"She's right, you two certainly have grown over the last couple of years," Kakashi said as he broke the silence.

"Well, you haven't changed at all, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto exclaimed with a fox-like grin as he looked at his former sensei.

It was about that time that everyone noticed Hinata do a double take when she spotted a ring on her former jonin-sensei's hand before she quickly glanced at Asuma's hand. Hinata then startled everyone by squealing in delight, "You and Asuma-sensei finally got married!"

Hinata quickly sat down in the empty chair next to her former sensei and hugged the older woman. Kurenai laughed and hugged Hinata back despite her initial surprise at her former student's outburst. The shy little girl she remembered had definitely gained some self-confidence.

"That's not all, Hinata. We're expecting," Kurenai said as she smiled warmly with a hand on her belly.

"Asuma-sensei, you dog, you," Naruto laughed as he slapped Team 10's sensei on the back. "Is Konohamaru looking forward to having a baby cousin?"

"Yeah, he is. I caught him shopping for an extra-small pair of goggles yesterday," Asuma replied with a grin, before he started telling Naruto all about the encounter with his nephew the day before.

While Naruto was distracted by Asuma's tale, Kurenai's curiosity got the better of her and she motioned for Hinata to come closer so she could whisper in the teen's ear. "Did you finally tell him?"

Hinata blushed and nodded with a shy smile on her face.

" So you two are…" Kurenai asked while holding out her pinky finger.

Hinata face turned even redder as she nodded again.

"Oh, Hinata, I'm so happy for you," Kurenai gushed as she hugged her former student again.

Before Kurenai could drag any details out of Hinata, Asuma cleared his throat to get his wife's attention and tapped his watch.

"I really want to hear all about your training and travels, Hinata, but I've got an appointment for a check-up," Kurenai said with a sigh. Hinata looked back at Kurenai with sympathy, as she remembered her jonin-sensei wasn't very fond of needles or the hospital.

"That's okay, Kurenai-sensei, we were on our way to the Hokage's office anyway. We can catch up later. Say hi to Kiba-kun and Shino-kun for me if you see them before I do," Hinata said.

Kurenai gave Hinata one last hug and smile before she and Asuma walked off in the direction of the hospital. Before the two got very far, Naruto noticed Kurenai nudge her husband and then hold her hand palm up with an expectant look on her face. Asuma's shoulders slumped as he dug his wallet out and began laying bills on his wife's hand. "Hmm, Asuma-sensei acts like he lost a bet or something. Strange, I didn't think either one of them was the type to gamble,' Naruto thought, before shrugging it off as none of his business.

"Oh, I almost forgot! I have a surprise for you, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said as he held out a small green book he had retrieved from his backpack.

"WHAAAT?! You… H-how… Th-that's…" Kakashi just stared wide-eyed at the book, _Icha Icha Tactics,_

"It's really boring, but I think you'll like it. It's the first new book in the _Icha Icha_ series in three years," Naruto said.

"Baka. A kid like you wouldn't understand the beauty of that book. It's still a rare unreleased item too," Jiraiya grumbled under his breath as he walked up to Kakashi and his two apprentices.

Kakashi spaced out and looked like he was going to hyperventilate for a moment when he first opened the book. The jonin had begun to have withdrawal symptoms when Jiraiya's normally prolific string of new releases dried up. He'd been waiting for so long for the next book to come out. It wasn't even due out for another two months, and here in his hands he held the first copy in Konoha. The cover art was exquisite. It appeared to be twice as long as the next longest book in the series, _Icha Icha Violence_. Kakashi even loved the feel of the paper it was printed on.

"Oh, Kami. Jiraiya even signed it," Kakashi gasped. "To Kakashi, my biggest fan and most loyal reader. Jiraiya," Kakashi read aloud.

"This is the best gift anyone has EVER given me, Naruto," the normally calm and collected jounin exclaimed as his one visible eye began to mist up.

Kakashi then realized he was talking to himself. Jiraiya, Naruto, and Hinata had said their goodbyes while he was distracted and were already walking toward the Hokage's office. 'Oh well, more reading time for me,' Kakashi thought with a contented smile hidden under his mask as he propped his feet up on an empty chair and started reading.

**At the Hokage's Office**

"It's been a while, you three," the Godaime Hokage said with a smile as she took in the sight of her former teammate and his two charges standing alongside her apprentice. "I wonder if that training has worked out…"

"You think we'd have come back early if it hadn't?" interrupted Jiraiya.

"It was bang on," Naruto added with his normal confidence.

"I see the training wasn't the only thing that worked out," Tsunade chuckled as she looked down slightly from Naruto's face.

Naruto and Hinata followed Tsunade's gaze and realized they hadn't let go of each other's hands before walking into the Hokage's office. A blush and shy smile appeared on Hinata's face as she suddenly found the floorboards of the room rather interesting. Naruto gave Tsunade a foxy grin, shrugged his shoulders, and decided to keep holding his girlfriend's hand.

"Was there banging involved with that, too?" Sakura asked in a surprisingly lecherous voice that made Jiraiya raise an eyebrow.

"Hai. N-no. H-hai, N-n-no. W-wait, wait just a second," Naruto sputtered as he realized what the pink-haired teen had implied. Hinata just stood there turning redder and redder with her mouth hanging open. Naruto ended up having to put his arm around Hinata's waist to steady her as she tried to keep from fainting due to the blood rushing to her face and away from everything else. Sakura and the adults in the room burst out laughing. "Sakura-chan, that was mean," Naruto huffed, which only made everyone laugh harder.

Once the laughter died down, Tsunade adopted a sterner expression before continuing, "Uzumaki Naruto. Hyuuga Hinata. Haruno Sakura. You are to be tested to evaluate the results of your training. Report to Training Ground 3 to meet the jonin who will be your opponent."

"Hai," all three teens responded in unison as they stood at attention in response to the sudden change in Tsunade's tone.

As they were leaving, Naruto heard Shizune say, "Tsunade-hime, I believe you owe me some money."

Naruto sighed, 'Baa-chan must have lost another bet.'

Three and a half hours later, Hinata and Sakura sat leaning against the fence of Training Ground 3, while Naruto lay stretched out on his back with his head on Hinata's lap as she absent mindedly played with the blonde's hair. The trio was still waiting on the jonin to show up. Sakura and Naruto had figured out who the jonin they would be facing after the first hour and a half. No one but Kakashi would keep them waiting this long.

"I just had to give him the new volume of _Icha Icha_," Naruto said with a sigh.

Sakura gave Naruto a puzzled look.

"We ran into Kakashi-sensei on the way to Hokage-sama's office, and Naruto-kun gave him a signed edition of Jiraiya-sensei's new book," Hinata offered as an explanation.

"He's probably still sitting at that café table reading," Naruto groaned.

Sakura just rolled her eyes. "Well that explains a lot. He's late even for Kakashi-sensei, he's usually just two and a half hours late most of the time."

Sakura turned to Hinata. "Speaking of perverted sensei. How did you end up going with Naruto and Jiraiya-sama on the training mission, Hinata?"

Hinata and Naruto shared a nervous look that didn't get past Sakura. Before she could give the matter any more consideration, her train of thought was interrupted by a puff of smoke that announced Kakashi's arrival.

"YOU'RE LATE," yelled Sakura and Naruto in unison as they leaped to their feet.

"Well, you see, there was this old woman who…"

"LIAR!" Despite their yelling both teens were smiling.

Kakashi smiled under his mask, 'Just like old times.' Then he remembered the missing member of Team 7 and noticed Hinata getting up behind Naruto, 'Well, almost.'

"I remember this place really well," Naruto said as they entered the training ground.

"Yeah," Sakura added.

"Ah, that's right. Training Ground 3 was where you two first trained with Sasuke, isn't it," Kakashi replied.

Kakashi watched the reactions of the three teens as the group stood by the training posts. Predictably, Sakura and Naruto looked saddened as they remembered the first time they visited Training Ground 3 with Sasuke.

'I guess Sasuke is still a sensitive subject for those two,' Kakashi thought as he looked at his two former students with sympathy.

Hinata, who had been smiling, looked concerned at Naruto's sudden change in mood, put her hand on Naruto's shoulder, and looked into his eyes. Naruto's expression began to change as he put his arm around his girlfriend and held her tight for a moment before he smiled as well.

Kakashi was now curious about the silent exchange he'd just witnessed. "Hinata, I know this training ground holds some important memories for Sakura and Naruto. However, it seems this place also holds some other significance for you and Naruto as well."

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei." Hinata blushed before continuing, "This is where Naruto-kun and I had our first real conversation with each other right before his match with Neji-nii-san during the Chunin Exam finals."

"Yeah, I wasn't feeling very good about my chances against Neji and was really down. I ran into Hinata by the training posts over there on my way to the finals. She cheered me up by telling me about how I helped her when I encouraged her during the preliminaries and how she admired me for never giving up. I don't think I could have beat Neji if she hadn't helped me regain my confidence," Naruto confessed.

Kakashi and Sakura stared at Naruto in surprise, neither had known Naruto was that worried before his fight with Neji. Sakura smiled before saying, "Awww, that's so sweet, Hinata. How come you never told me about that, Naruto?"

Naruto just grinned sheepishly while rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand.

'Interesting,' thought Kakashi, 'She managed to distract Naruto and Sakura from getting too depressed over their memories of Sasuke.'

Kakashi jingled the three bells he was holding in his hand to get the teens' attention. "Hinata, Naruto and Sakura have taken this test with me before, but the rules are a bit different this time around. When I gave Team 7 this test when after they graduated from the academy it was a test of their ability to work together as a team," Kakashi nodded to his two former students before continuing, "This time it will be a test of how much you've grown as ninjas. Like last time, the goal is for you to grab a bell before time is up. If you don't come at me with the intent to kill you won't succeed. The time limit is dawn tomorrow."

Sakura, Hinata, and Naruto looked at each other for a brief moment before looking back at Kakashi. Sakura looked her former-sensei in the eye with an almost evil smile as she slide on a pair of leather gloves, Naruto wore his patented foxy-grin, and even Hinata had a mischievous look dancing in her eyes.

"Riiiiight," Kakashi said warily as he put his book away and raised his forehead protector to reveal his Sharingan eye. "For some reason, I think I should take this a bit more seriously than last time."

"Begin," Kakashi barked at the three teens.


	6. Chapter 6: Legacy of the Nii, Part 2

**Faith of the Heart**

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**Like last time, I've included some bonus material at the end of the chapter. Enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Legacy of the Nii, Part 2**

The nearest missing-nin charged Michiko with his sword at the ready. She sidestepped to her left using her own blade to deflect her opponent's weapon. Quickly spinning around as they passed each other, Michiko's katana slashed at the missing-nin's neck. She didn't even spare her first opponent a second glance as she turned to face the remaining seven. The sound of the missing-nin's head hitting the ground followed a second later by the louder thump of his body told her all she needed to know. "Two down," She growled at the ninja that blocked her path.

There were roughly one hundred fifty yards of open ground between Michiko and her destination, the Main House and her baby. A large koi pond dominated the garden to her right and beyond that lay the fifteen-foot high stone outer wall of the estate. A stream meandered from the pond to her left where it disappeared through an arch in a low decorative wall that separated the Main House gardens from the various Branch Family dwellings on the other side. Ten feet to her right lay the path that led to a wooden footbridge that crossed the stream before it wound it's way through the trees, statues, and other landscaping of the garden to the Main House. Behind Michiko was the Bonsai tree house, whose shadows she had just emerged from to kill the missing-nin with the sword. Between the Bonsai tree house and the clan bathhouse, which was situated just on the other side of the garden wall behind her, lay the large clan shrine that housed what the Hyuuga council called the 'Eternal Flame of Our Hyuuga Forefathers.' Most everyone else just called it 'that big torch thing in the shrine.'

The seven remaining intruders that Michiko could see between her and the house were split up in two groups, each with a Cloud jonin. The group in front of her that the missing-nin she beheaded had belonged to consisted of a short Cloud jonin who had his red hair tied up into a ponytail similar to the kind the men of the Nara clan tended to favor and a pair of missing-nins. Judging by the umbrellas strapped to their backs, both missing-nins were from Amegakure. On the other side of the stream, the other four shinobi were spread out in a skirmish line in front of the house. Michiko hazarded a guess that the three survivors of the team in front of her were headed that way to join the other team. 'So two four man teams to take out security and act as a blocking force, which means that first Cloud ninja I killed was part of a third team. The other three must be in the house already. That's probably why Emi screamed.' Michiko couldn't sense or see any other intruders within the confines of the garden, and now that the alarm had been raised the intruders she could see didn't seem to be too concerned with stealth anymore. Michiko spotted a cloud of dark smoke, made visible only when the full moon appeared in a break in the clouds, rising from the opposite end of the village and could just barely make out the sounds of fighting somewhere in the same direction, 'and by the looks of it another force to act as a diversion by attacking somewhere else in the village. Well, isn't this just peachy. I'm probably facing ten-to-one odds here, and what do you want to bet the few ANBU and Military Police still inside the village are all busy dealing with the diversion?'

One of the missing-nins interrupted Michiko's thoughts by throwing his umbrella up in the air and calling out, "Jouro Senbon!" The umbrella opened up in mid-air and began spinning, hurling out hundreds of senbon needles as it rotated. The needles changed direction in mid-air like a flock of birds evading a predator as the missing-nin began using his chakra to steer them. "She's too scared to even move," the second missing-nin from Rain laughed, as Michiko stayed frozen in place.

'…three, two, one, NOW!' The impacting needles created a cloud of dust that obscured the woman with the sword from her attacker and his partners.

"You definitely got that bitch!" the same laughing missing-nin called out. The laugh died in his throat a second later when the cloud of dust started to dissipate. Instead of the body they'd been expecting, a wheelbarrow with so many needles embedded in it that it looked like a porcupine appeared.

'I am never going to complain about Kaito-san leaving his tools out ever again,' Michiko thought from where she reappeared a short distance away after her use of a well timed Kawarimi. She had wanted to avoid using chakra as much as possible in this fight, but she was pleasantly surprised by what happened when she used Kawarimi no Jutsu, which she had hoped would be relatively safe since it drew so little chakra. When she reappeared where the wheelbarrow had sat she felt a small surge of chakra throughout her body. It wasn't a painful sensation; in fact it was quit the opposite. The soreness in her muscles and all the little aches and pains she had been feeling were washed away, and her body suddenly felt energized. 'Well that's a little weird, but, given the situation, I'm not about to complain,' Michiko thought to herself.

"Where'd she go?" the missing-nin who threw the umbrella shouted.

"She used a Kawarimi, you fool," the Cloud jonin responded.

Michiko was debating whether or not to risk using a C-ranked jutsu to attack the three intruders when a voice called out to her from behind, "Lady Michiko! Is everything okay?"

When Michiko glanced behind her she spotted Hizashi's wife, Aki, and five other Hyuuga civilians running toward her. None of the new arrivals seemed to realize what they had walked in on. The three shinobi Michiko had been facing turned as they spotted their quarry standing in front of the six civilians.

'If I dodge or use Kawarimi again they'll hit Aki and the others when they attack,' Michiko cringed as she realized she now had to protect the civilians _while _fighting the intruders. 'Can this get any worse?'

As if on queue, three Cloud shinobi exited the Main House through a side door and took off in the opposite direction of the battle. One of them, a teenaged kunoichi with short blond hair, was cradling a small bundle in her arms. "Hinata-chan," Michiko whispered to herself as a growing feeling of terror gripped her. 'What should I do?' While even non-shinobi Hyuuga received some instruction in the Gentle Fist style of taijutsu, none of the six people behind her stood a chance against trained shinobi with mid- and long-range jutsus in their arsenals. The two missing-nins would probably mow them down for fun before they tried to stop her from chasing after the ones who had Hinata. But the odds of getting Hinata back dropped significantly if the Cloud shinobi managed to get outside the walls of the village.

The second missing-nin from Rain made up Michiko's mind for her when he tossed his umbrella up into the air and preformed the same jutsu as the first had. "Jouro Senbon!"

The spinning umbrella began to release senbon needles into the air. 'I'm so sorry Hinata-chan. I promise I'll rescue you soon,' Michiko thought as she made one of the most heart-wrenching decisions of her life. She stuck her sword into the ground. Her hands then blurred into motion forming hand signs at a speed none of the intruders could follow with their eyes. Michiko began to pour not only her chakra but also all the rage and other emotions she was feeling into the jutsu. 'I'm going to make these bastards pay for hurting my family and taking my baby.'

"SUITON: DAIBAKUFU NO JUTSU!" Michiko screamed out as she activated the jutsu. The mild surge in chakra she felt earlier became a full-fledged torrent pouring itself into the jutsu. Caught by surprise, Michiko fought to control the jutsu as the water of the garden's large koi pond rose up into a massive spinning vortex that swept up the senbon needles, the umbrella, the redheaded Cloud jonin, and both Rain missing-nins before it demolished the stone outer wall and traveled out into the forest beyond. Michiko couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the results of the Daibakufu no Jutsu. While the vortex of water she had created was not significantly larger in size than normal, the sheer power and velocity of the moving water was double what she normally produced. The jutsu had blown through the ten foot thick stonewall like it was a little white picket fence. She had nearly emptied the koi pond, which was now slowly refilling as the water from the stream rushed into it.

'Why are they still here?' Michiko groaned when she realized Aki and the others were still standing behind her in shock. "Get out of here now! Tell everyone to go to the escape tunnels and shelters!" Michiko yelled. None of them moved.

The remaining Cloud jonin and missing-nins on the other side of the stream were not fools. After the power of the A-ranked jutsu Michiko had just used, they now realized they were not up against a lone chuunin, who happened to be skilled with a sword, like they had originally thought when she first appeared, but one of Konoha's formidable elite jonin or possibly even an ANBU. However, what truly scared them was the fact the woman they were facing didn't appear to be affected in the slightest by the enormous amount of chakra she'd just used. Two of the missing-nins on the other side of the stream shared a look, both had come to a similar conclusion: they needed to take her out quickly. Spotting an opportunity in the crowd of Hyuuga standing behind the woman, one of the pair lobbed a kunai with an exploding tag attached toward them. "Suiton: Suijinheki!" Michiko called out as she used one of the large puddles left by the waterspout to form a wall of water to shield herself and the civilians. The kunai exploded in the wall showering the crowd with a spray of water. The second missing-nin took advantage of the distraction and hit Michiko with a Doton jutsu that caused a shaft of rock to shoot out of the ground at her feet, causing her to be thrown against one of the stone sculptures in the garden. The sculpture broke in half from the force of the impact, but Michiko quickly got up wiping blood away from her mouth. "I SAID MOVE! DAMN IT!" she yelled at the crowd of civilians, who shaken out of their shock by Michiko's voice and the cold water they'd been sprayed with, finally began to run away. Michiko saw her sister-in-law take one last worried look at her before she ran to grab Neji and head for safety.

Michiko was just as amazed as her opponents by how little the Suiton: Daibukufu no Jutsu had taken out of her and how quickly she was able to get up after the impacting the statue. She had actually _heard_ some of her own ribs break when she hit, but she could barely feel the pain at all. Then there was the massive surge of chakra she felt when she performed the Suiton: Daibukufu no Jutsu. She had counted on the jutsu taking out the first team of intruders with one shot, but she had been so surprised by its power that she barely managed to control it. Normally, she would have been worried. What she felt simply wasn't natural, but right now she was past caring. She'd worry about it after she got her daughter back. Michiko grabbed her sword out of the ground and re-sheathed it. She then got a running start and took a chakra powered leap twenty feet in the air over the stream headed straight toward the remaining Cloud jonin and missing-nins.

A bald headed missing-nin from Iwa threw six shuriken at the airborne Michiko only to be surprised when his target vanished in a cloud of Kawarimi smoke and a large boulder falling straight toward him appeared in her place. He tried to dodge but the rock slammed into his left arm, breaking it, before sending him tumbling head-over-heels into the stream.

A second later a missing-nin from Sunagakure let out a yelp as a kunai embedded in his back right where he couldn't reach it. He got up prepared to return the favor as Michiko ran past him on her way to take on one of his teammates. Before he could throw his own kunai at her however, he heard the explosive tag attached to the kunai sticking out of his back begin to sizzle. Dropping the kunai in his hand, the missing-nin tried desperately to reach the tag only to disappear in a cloud of red mist.

The Cloud jonin saw Michiko charging him and began making the hand signs for a raiton jutsu.

"Oh no you don't!" Michiko yelled as she quickly performed Suiton: Suijinheki again. This time the wall of water created a half-sphere over the Cloud jonin. Michiko allowed the wall to collapse inward, drenching the jonin just as he tried to activate his jutsu, which caused him to only succeed in electrocuting himself as the bolt of lightning he'd created arched back and forth inside the rapidly collapsing Suijinkeki. The Cloud jonin cried out in pain as his jutsu backfired before he collapsed dead in a steaming heap.

Michiko turned to face the last missing-nin, but stopped in her tracks when she heard a sound like a thousand chirping birds.

"Chidori!"

The missing-nin looked down and was shocked to see a hand holding a crackling ball of electricity sticking out of his chest. His eyes rolled back into his head and he went limp.

Kakashi pulled his arm out of the now dead missing-nin's back. "We ran into a friend of yours outside of Training Ground 8. He said you could use some help. Not that it looks like you nee…"

Kakashi was cut off as Michiko shoved him to the ground with one hand while drawing her sword with the other.

* * *

Rin was kneeling down to checking the vital signs of one of the Hyuuga guards she found laying next to the house a short distance from Michiko and Kakashi. Unfortunately, the genin appeared to have died a short time earlier from a raiton jutsu of some description. 

"RIN, LOOK OUT!" Kakashi yelled. Rin looked up only to see Kakashi laying on the ground and Michiko's sword flying through the air straight at her. Rin's eyes went wide in surprise. The sword was only feet away by the time she heard Kakashi's warning. She didn't even have time to duck. Her eyes closed instinctively. She heard the sickening sound of the sword hitting flesh, but she didn't felt the blade strike her, only something warm and wet hitting the side of her face and neck. Rin heard a gurgling sound and opened her eyes. She wiped her face with her hand only to discover that what she had felt hitting her was blood. Trembling Rin started to turn around toward the source of the sound. Stuck point down in the ground inches from her calf was a foot long curved knife with a leather wrapped handle. When she looked immediately behind her she saw a soaking wet bald-headed missing-nin from Iwagakure pinned by Michiko's sword through his neck to one of the wooden columns that held up the roof over the Main House's porch.

Rin leapt to her feet and slowly backed away from the now dead shinobi until she was standing between Michiko and her teammate.

"Sorry if I scared you," Michiko said in a soft, apologetic voice that sounded out of place among the destruction and dead bodies that surrounded them.

"Umm, it's okay, really. Thank you for saving me," Rin replied, her eyes still wide as saucers from the scare. It amazed, not to mention slightly freaked out, the younger kunoichi that Michiko could switch back to her normal gentle, caring persona so easily after what she'd just seen her do.

Michiko suddenly felt short of breath and started coughing up blood, as the pain she should have been feeling returned with a vengeance. Kakashi and Rin were forced to catch her to keep her from collapsing. However, when Rin grabbed her left arm, Michiko cried out in pain. Rin instantly let go, but, luckily, Kakashi was strong enough to hold her up by himself.

"You're hurt!" Rin exclaimed, as Kakashi gently lowered Michiko to the ground. She was looking at her hands and forearms, which were covered in more blood from where she tried to grab Michiko.

"Yeah, one of them got me with a Doton jutsu right before you showed up. I think I broke a couple of ribs on my left side, but something else strange happened during the fight. I felt this massive surge of chakra when I used that first suiton jutsu. It was like a suddenly had an endless reserve of chakra, and I felt no pain. Well, it kind of started hurting again," Michiko said. She felt incredibly tired as her energy and chakra began to evaporate. Rin quickly started scanning her injuries with a medical jutsu.

* * *

**Present Day, Cave in the Land of Wind Desert**

"That's why she died after giving birth to Hinata's sister, isn't it?" Sakura interrupted.

"Huh?" Kakashi replied, having been so caught up in the telling of the story that he hadn't heard her the first time.

"I said, 'That's why Hinata's mother died after giving birth to Hanabi, isn't it?' She opened the Zero Gate." Sakura asked again.

"Yes, she did," Kakashi sadly answered.

"Somebody mind filling me in on what you're talking about?" Temari asked.

"Hinata's mother opened the Gate of Birth," Sakura explained as she remembered what she'd learned during her medical ninja training. "As I'm sure you remember from Lee and your brother's fight during our first chuunin exams, everyone has eight limiters, or 'gates,' that control the flow of chakra through their chakra system. When a woman becomes pregnant a ninth gate, called the 'Gate of Birth' or the 'Zero Gate,' is created. The Zero Gate regulates the flow of chakra from the mother to her unborn child. It's only a temporary gate though and disappears a week or two after giving birth. However, if you try to do something that uses too much chakra, like a chakra intensive A-ranked suiton jutsu, for example, before the Zero Gate disappears it can accidentally open."

"Like the eight other gates, when you open the Zero Gate you temporarily increase the amount of chakra you have available but damage your body and chakra system in the process. Usually, it's nothing that can't be fixed if you get medical attention quickly enough, but Tsunade-sensei discovered in the course of her research last year that in some cases opening the Zero Gate damages it and causes the gate to not form correctly if the mother becomes pregnant again. In those cases the Zero Gate doesn't disappear after birth, it ruptures, causing a catastrophic deterioration of the mother's chakra system, killing the mother. The deterioration takes a few days to run its course, and it's not exactly a pleasant way to go," Sakura finished in a quieter voice, not wanting Hinata to hear the last part from wherever she and Naruto had disappeared to farther back in the cave. It hadn't registered in Sakura's mind that the Michiko Hyuuga she had read about in Tsunade's medical study was Hinata's mother until she heard Kakashi's story.

"Oh," Temari said softly. She could sympathize, as her own mother had died after giving birth to Gaara when her chakra system began to breakdown from the strain. The memory of her mother's slow agonizing death still haunted Temari to this day.

Kakashi decided to break the silence that followed by resuming his story, "As I was saying…"

* * *

**  
**

**The Hyuuga Estate, the Night of December 29****th****, 15 Years Earlier**

As Rin continued to work on Michiko, Hiashi, Saburou, and Hizashi, who had been returning from a mission outside the village when he ran into his brother and the young Hyuuga genin, arrived at the estate.

"Michiko-chan!" Hiashi said with a surprising amount of emotion for the normally stoic man. He knelt down next to his wife and took her hand in his own.

"Hiashi-kun, they took her! They took our baby! They took Hinata-chan!"

The others let out shocked gasps at the news.

"What? Who took her?" Hiashi quickly asked.

"Cloud shinobi! I went to take a shower and they snuck into the estate while I was at the bathhouse! I tried to stop them but I couldn't make it back before three of them took off with Hinata-chan! I'm so sorry Hiashi-kun! I couldn't stop them!" Michiko cried.

"Kakashi, you've signed your father's summoning contract with the ninja hounds haven't you?" Hiashi asked.

When Kakashi nodded, Hiashi said, "Good. Summon Pakkun and his brothers and take them into the nursery to see of they can get Hinata-chan and the Cloud-nins' scents."

"Of course, Lord Hiashi," Kakashi said as he walked a short distance away to summon the ninja hounds.

Hiashi turned to his wife who by this time was in tears. "Shhh, it's okay. We'll get her back," Hiashi said in a calming voice. "Now tell me exactly what happened."

Michiko explained to the two brothers what had happened from the moment she left the bathhouse until their arrival at the estate. As Michiko told the story, she slowly regained her composure. By the time she finished she had stopped crying, and although she was obviously still upset it was quickly being replaced with anger.

The head of the Hyuuga clan felt a number of emotions as he listened to the tale: fear for his daughter's safety; pride in his wife's bravery; shame that he had not been there himself to protect his family; and above all anger at those who had invaded his home, killed members of his clan, injured his wife, and taken his daughter and the one fool who had created the conditions that allowed them to succeed.

Just then, Haru Hyuuga, in what the official clan historian would years later call, "one of the worst cases of bad timing in the history of Konoha," returned to the estate with the five guards that he had taken with him to go 'inspect' the Hyuuga on sentry duty at the village's outer wall.

"My Lord, we returned as soon as we heard the compound was under attack. I'm relieved to see you are unharmed. I assure you I will punish the guards for their failure to protect the estate and the Lady Hyuuga," Haru called out when he saw Hiashi kneeling next to his injured wife.

With the exception of Hiashi, who was still holding his wife's hand and looking at her face, and Michiko, who was still staring up at her husband, ever single member of the small group that had gathered around where Michiko lay turned and stared at Haru in disgust.

Finally, after several tense seconds, Michiko broke the silence. "Saburou-kun, would you be a dear and fetch my sword. I think I just found a new practice dummy," She said in a sickly sweet voice with a nod toward the sword that still pinned the missing-nin to the column.

Saburou started to walk toward the column to do as Michiko asked. Without turning around, Hiashi reached out and grabbed the genin's arm and shook his head.

"Pleeeassseee, Hiashi-kun," Michiko whined while she looked up at her husband with her best innocent 'puppy dog-eyes' face. "I promise to do it out here so I won't make a mess in the house. I'll even let him keep his right arm so he can feed himself. Of course, he might have trouble going to the bathroom when I'm done, but I'm sure we can come up with a solution for that." Michiko turned her head toward the young medical ninja treating her injuries, "Rin, sweetie, can a catheter be inserted after I cut off his…"

"L-l-lord Hyuuga!" Haru sputtered. "While I'm sure Lady Hyuuga is still distraught…"

"Silence!" Hiashi hissed as he stood and dusted of his robes with his back still to Haru. Hiashi then turned to the five guards who arrived with the Hyuuga councilman, "Riku-san, I want you, Tsubasa-san, and Yasu-san to located the other guards that were on duty tonight. Arata and Taro are dead, but Minoru and Shou are unaccounted for and may only be wounded or unconscious. If you find them alive and their condition allows them to be moved, bring them here to Rin-san and the other medical ninjas who should be on the way. Yuuta-san, the rest of the clan has been evacuated to the shelters and escape tunnels. Please find them and tell them it is safe to return." The four Hyuuga shinobi saluted and took off to carry out Hiashi's orders.

Hiashi then turned to Ichirou, "Captain Ichirou, I would like to apologize on behalf of the Main Family for how you were treated tonight." Hiashi bowed deeply to the Branch Family shinobi.

Both Hizashi and Ichirou were shocked at the apology. "My Lord!" Ichirou replied. "That is not necessary! I am the one who owes you and the Lady Hyuuga an apology for leaving my post!"

"No, Ichirou, you had no choice in the matter. Haru forced you. If you are still willing I have a couple of tasks for you," Hiashi said.

When Ichirou nodded, Hiashi continued, "First, I want you to place Haru under house arrest. Consider any order he may attempt to give you null and void. I will deal with him when I finish cleaning up this mess."

Haru tried to speak up, "My Lord! I..."

"I suggest you be quiet, Haru," Hiashi said in a voice that left no doubt that it was really an order, not a suggestion. "The only reason I stopped the boy was because I did not want my wife to exacerbate her injuries. However, I am sorely tempted to give the Lady Hyuuga her sword back once she has recovered and lock you in a room with her as _part_ of your punishment."

Hiashi then turned back to the Hyuuga jonin and resumed talking to him as if Haru didn't exist, "Secondly, Ichirou, I want you to coordinate with the ANBU who should be arriving as soon as they finish dealing with the attack on the other side of the village. They will want to investigate what happened, give them any assistance they require. You are to report directly to the Hyuuga council, minus Haru, of course. They should be on their way back here by now."

"Yes, Sir, Lord Hyuuga!" Ichirou said with a salute before Hiashi dismissed him.

As Ichirou was leading the deathly pale Haru home to await his punishment, Kakashi emerged from the Main House carrying an unconscious and very bloodied teenage girl.

"Emi!" Michiko cried out when she saw the girl. She tried to get up, but was held down by Rin and Hizashi.

"Don't even think of getting up! You did a hell of a lot more than break a couple of ribs. You had a broken shoulder; a bruised kidney; _four_ broken ribs, one of which punctured a lung, by the way; a couple of nasty lacerations on your side and arm; and I'm still trying to figure out exactly what you managed to do to your chakra system. I'm not done healing you yet, and you are not going to re-injure what I have managed to fix. The only thing you are going to do is lay there and not move while I take a look at Emi, got it?" Rin ordered.

Michiko reluctantly nodded, so Rin turned around to where Kakashi lay the injured girl down.

While Rin examined Emi's injuries, Hiashi motioned for his brother and Kakashi to follow him a short distance away. Hiashi turned to Kakashi first, "Did they pick up the trail?"

"Yes, sir."

"Excellent." Hiashi then turned to face his twin brother, "Hizashi, I know things have not been well between us this past year, but I have a request I'd like to make of you, not as the Lord Hyuuga, but as your brother. I plan to leave immediately in pursuit of the kidnappers, and I want you and Kakashi-san to come with me."

Hizashi looked like he was about to say something when Hiashi held up his hand to interrupt, "I know you'd prefer to wait for a squad of ANBU, but a team of three will travel faster and time is of the essence. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, and if we don't hurry, Pakkun and his fellow ninja hounds could easily lose their trail."

"Actually, brother, I was trying to say I'll go with you," Hizashi said with a smirk. "But I'm going for Michiko's sake, not yours. It's the least I can do for your wife after she saved Aki-chan."

Hiashi nodded; it would have to do. He then turned back to the masked teenager standing next to his brother, "Kakashi are you in?"

"Sure, it's what Minato-sensei would have wanted," Kakashi said with a shrug.

"Good, gather whatever you need from the clan's stores. We leave in five minutes. Now, if you excuse me, I have to figure out a way to tell Michiko that she can't come with us."

Kakashi gave the head of the Hyuuga clan a look of sympathy as he walked toward his wife. "There goes a brave man."

"Definitely," Hizashi agreed in a rare moment of respect for his brother. He was profoundly grateful Hiashi hadn't tried to order him to tell her. At the moment, his normally kind and sweet natured sister-in-law was quite possibly one of the scariest women he'd ever met, and Hizashi had been at the hot springs a few years earlier when Tsunade nearly beat the life out of Jiraiya after catching him peeking at her. "I just hope he thinks to take away the rest of her weapons first," he added with a shiver when he remembered the half full equipment pouch Michiko still had attached to her belt.

* * *

The next afternoon, Jiraiya was walking along one of the Land of Lightning's rain soaked roads when he looked behind him and spotted three familiar people coming toward him from the direction of Konoha. 

"Hiashi! Hizashi! Kakashi! What's wrong?" Jiraiya yelled out as the teen and two Hyuuga brothers approached. There was little doubt in the sannin's mind that something had indeed gone horribly wrong. Two Hyuuga did not travel this far into the Land of Lightning with only a fourteen-year-old jonin for an escort without a damn good reason, especially when one of them was a Main Branch member and the head of the clan.

"Hinata's been kidnapped by a group of Kumo-nins. We followed them this far but lost their trail a couple of hours ago when it started raining," Hiashi told his wife's former sensei as he tried to catch his breath after running through the night and most of that day. Hiashi then went on to explain what had happened at the Hyuuga Estate the night before.

Jiraiya let the information sink in for a moment. Intellectually, he knew something like this was bound to happen when the rest of the world learned of what the Kyuubi had done to his home village. Somebody had just decided to take advantage of an opportunity that seemed too good to pass up. That's all there was to it. Yes, intellectually Jiraiya knew all this. Emotionally, Jiraiya didn't give a rat's ass if the shinobi world worked that way. It meant absolutely nothing to him that Konoha was weak at the moment or that it was inevitable the news would get out. He. Simply. Did. Not. Care. Someone had seriously hurt a woman who was one of the few remaining precious people in the sannin's life and then made off with her infant daughter. To put it mildly, the infamous Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin was PISSED.

"Follow me," Jiraiya said.

From the tone of his voice, it was clear to the others that a lot of people in the Land of Lightning were about to have a very long and uncomfortable night.

* * *

Yuudai Nii started to relax for the first time in days when he saw the small abandoned mining village come into view a few miles after they crossed the Land of Lightning/Land of Fire border. Yuudai's main concern during their escape from Konoha was the possibility of running into a squad of Leaf ninjas inside the borders of the Land Fire. He seriously doubted the Leaf had the resources to send out a rescue team thanks to the losses they had suffered when the Kyuubi attacked, but you never could predict what lengths a hidden village would go to in order to keep a weapon as powerful as the Byakugan out of the hands of other villages. However, the Cloud jonin thought it unlikely that Konoha would risk following them this far past the border even if they had been able to put together a rescue team. The Leaf weren't exactly in any position to start a war, unlike the Raikage, who would be certain to take advantage of the situation if given an excuse. 

While the raid hadn't exactly gone as planned leading to the lose of three of his cousins, nearly a quarter of what was left of the once mighty Nii clan, Yuudai could at least report that they accomplished the main goal of the mission by acquiring the infant Hyuuga girl, and with her the Byakugan. That crazy kinoichi at the Hyuuga estate and the Leaf ninjas who fell for the diversionary attack had even managed to save a great deal of what little money the Nii had left by whittling down the ranks of the missing-nins they'd hired for the raid. Only fifteen of the sixty missing-nins in the diversionary force survived, but that was expected as the diversionary force consisted of the cheapest, and therefore least effective, missing-nins they could hire. They had been mere cannon fodder intended to draw Konoha's defenders away from the Hyuuga estate by their sheer numbers alone. The six that died at the Hyuuga estate had been a surprise though. All six had achieved the rank of jonin before abandoning their home villages and were the veterans of years working as missing-nins for hire, or independent shinobi contractors as some of the six liked to call themselves. Never the less, the only real loss caused by their deaths was the half of their payment they had insisted on receiving before the start of the mission.

Yuudai spared a glance back at his fifteen-year-old niece, Satomi, who was carrying the infant Hyuuga. He secretly hoped his father, the head of the clan, would agree to place the infant in his brother's care. Satomi seemed to have taken a liking to the baby, and it was the first time since the deaths of her mother and older sister, Yugito, that Yuudai had seen the teen smile. He hadn't exactly been thrilled with the idea of kidnapping a newborn baby when he first heard of the plan, but it had become a matter of survival for his clan. The Nii would likely never be able to rebuild if they loss the Nibi. Still, He hadn't completely abandoned his sense of morality when he agreed to lead the mission, since he did feel guilty about taking the Hyuuga child away from her parents. Yuudai had been a father too before both his sons died fighting the Mist. He knew the pain of losing a child all too well. 'The girl's parents are shinobi, merely tools to be used by those who hired them. Even if we hadn't taken her, she would have become a shinobi. Better she grow up as a tool for the use of the Cloud than a weapon that could be used against us,' Yuudai thought as he tried to justify his actions. He wasn't comfortable with what they'd done, but at least the girl would be raised in a loving family. She would be their savior after all.

It would take the better part of twelve hours to seal the Nibi within the infant, and then they could begin their journey back to Kumogakure to present the newest member of the Nii clan to the Raikage.

* * *

Two cloaked men stood with Jiraiya and Kakashi in the darkness of an alley in a small village sixty miles inside the Land of Lightning. All four of them were staring across the street at a run down bar. They'd spent the better part of six hours chasing down one of Jiraiya's sources that might have information on Hinata's whereabouts, and the trail had led them here. 

"It's best if no one sees you yet. Stay here with the brat and I'll bring my source out to talk to you," Jiraiya told the cloaked brothers.

Both of the Hyuuga males nodded their understanding as they were fully aware of how big a risk they were taking just by being there. The Raikage had been trying to obtain the Byakugan for nearly a decade, and any Hyuuga who set foot in the Land of Lightning was in danger of being captured and turned over to the Raikage in return for the bounty on the Hyuuga clan's kekkei genkai.

"Are you sure you don't want me to go inside with you?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm sure. My source is kind of skittish. We're more likely to get information out of him if I talk to him alone first. Besides, kid, you're only fourteen and it's a bar," Jiraiya answered with a chuckle as he started to walk out of the alley toward the bar. "You'll draw to much attention, even if you use a henge. Trust me, no one is better at spotting a henge than a bartender in a shinobi nation. Kami knows how many times I got busted by sharp-eyed barkeeps when I was a teenager."

Twenty minutes later, Hiashi and Hizashi were beginning to worry about what was taking Jiraiya so long. Hiashi was about to activate his Byakugan to check on the sannin when a man came flying through the plate glass window of the bar and landed in a heap in the middle of the street. A moment later Jiraiya stepped through the now empty window frame, walked up to where the man lay, grabbed him by the neck, and dragged him unceremoniously into the alley were the two Hyuuga brothers and Kakashi were concealed.

"Let me rephrase what I said since you obviously didn't hear me the first time, Kyou. You see the very angry gentlemen standing next to me?" Jiraiya said in a voice that dripped with barely concealed rage as he held the man off the ground with one arm. The quivering Cloud chuunin nodded when Hiashi stepped forward. "He has some questions he'd like answered, and since I know you're the head grape on the Kumo grapevine, I told him you'd be the perfect man to talk to."

"No way!" Kyou responded. "Some things just aren't worth the money! Do you have any idea what will happen to me if the people you're looking for find out I talked?"

"So you do know who we're looking for," Kakashi noted from behind Jiraiya.

Kyou instantly clammed up when he realized he had given away more information than he'd intended.

"Kid, you may be a good fighter, but you've still got a lot to learn about information gathering," Jiraiya sighed as he glanced back at Kakashi. "I guess we're going to have to do this the hard way. Well, the hard way for Kyou here, anyway. I won't feel a thing."

Jiraiya formed a rasengan in his free hand. He slowly moved the spinning sphere of pure chakra to within two inches of the man's crotch. Kyou started sweating like mad and his eyes opened so wide, Kakashi wouldn't have been surprised if his eyeballs fell out on their own. "Impressive isn't it. The Fourth Hokage invented this jutsu himself. You should see what this thing does to flesh. I remember this one Rock jonin the Yondaime used it on back during our war with Iwagakure. Damn, that left a mess. You remember that, don't you Hizashi?"

The other Hyuuga brother, who had been leaning against the opposite wall of the alley with his arms crossed chuckled. "Yeah, all we ever found were his toes. I'll tell you what though, he sure did scream loud enough before he died."

"Tell me about it, I couldn't hear out of my left ear for days," Jiraiya laughed like they were reminiscing about a practical joke they'd once pulled on someone.

The sannin turned his attention back to Kyou. "Now, where were we before my young friend interrupted? Oh yeah, that's right. You were saying something about some things not being worth the trouble, weren't you?" Jiraiya asked in a friendly voice while wearing a sadistic smile that promised pain and misery.

While Jiraiya had been talking, Kyou had been trying to pull his entire body up into his shirt collar to get away from the rasengan. He was almost ready to crack. Jiraiya decided to give the subtle push needed to send the whimpering chuunin over the edge.

"You know, Kyou, it's been a long night, and I'm not as young as I use to be. My old arm could get tired at any moment and just drop you," Jiraiya said as he ever so slightly made the arm he was using to hold the Cloud chuunin up tremble.

Whatever resolve Kyou had left crumbled to nothingness in an instant. "PLEASE NO! I'LL TALK! IT WAS THE NII! OKAY! THE NII CLAN! I'LL TELL YOU EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT THEM! JUST GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!"

* * *

"I still say it wasn't a good idea to let that Kyou guy go," Kakashi said as the group speed over the rocky terrain of the Lightning Mountains. "For all we know he could have gone to someone in the Nii clan and warned them we were looking for information on who kidnapped Hinata." 

"Kakashi, the only place Kyou went after we got through with him was home to change his underwear," Jiraiya replied. He paused for a moment before deciding the teen needed a lesson on the finer points of intelligence gathering instead of being told to keep his trap shut. "Here's a question for you: what would have happened the next time I came looking for information in that village if word got out that I killed Kyou after he gave me what I wanted?"

Kakashi thought about it for a moment before it hit him. "Whoever you talked to would be less likely to tell you anything because they'd believe you would kill them anyway."

"Exactly! See you learned something important tonight, didn't you? When it comes to gathering intelligence, it's important to establish and maintain a good reputation among your potential sources," Jiraiya said as he bounded from boulder to boulder. "Kyou not only didn't give me what I wanted after I asked nicely, but he was rude about it, so I smacked him around a bit. When he told me what I wanted, I sent him on his merry way with a big wad of cash in his pocket. Hell, I even paid for the window I broke. People remember stuff like that."

Kakashi was silent as he mulled over what he'd been told. Jiraiya generally didn't care for 'geniuses,' but that Obito kid had been a good influence on Kakashi. Kakashi still had his arrogant moments, but he seemed to have learned what was really important about being a ninja, namely teamwork and having a good moral compass. The Toad Hermit looked ahead to the two Hyuuga brothers. As a teenager, Hiashi had been much like Kakashi had been before Obito's death. Hiashi had the same stick-up-his-ass attitude, the same strict adherence to the rules, and the same superiority complex. On top of it all, Hiashi had had a lot of suppressed emotion that was just begging for an outlet. It was a common problem among the Hyuuga. They focused too much on being a 'proper Hyuuga' who was always calm, collected, and in control. It was a wonderful ideal on paper, but in reality it had created a clan culture that frowned on _any_ display of emotion. That wasn't a healthy way to live in Jiraiya's opinion. All that bottled up emotion was bound to fester until it found an outlet, usually in an unexpected and destructive way. It was one of the reasons he disliked the majority of the Hyuuga clan. Trying to pretend they didn't have the same emotions as normal people had turned the lot of them into a group of passive-aggressive, arrogant bastards.

He was just glad Michiko seemed to have been able to turn Hiashi around. No one knew how she managed it, but after the couple started dating Hiashi had become almost easy going, in a stiff, Hyuuga sort of way. Jiraiya's own theory was Hiashi had just needed to get laid. The sannin had wisely decided to keep that thought to himself.

Despite his initial misgivings, Jiraiya grew to respect Hiashi. After he became head of the clan, Michiko had confided in her former sensei that Hiashi, who was her fiancée at the time, was secretly making plans for the eventual reform some of the clan's more barbaric traditions. Jiraiya wished him luck, but wasn't optimistic about his chances. Changing clan law required the approval of the Hyuuga council. At least, Hiashi seemed motivated enough to try though. He desperately wanted to avoid his and Michiko's children facing the same fate as he and his twin brother. Hiashi being chosen as the heir while Hizashi was banished to the Branch Family had destroyed the brothers' relationship. Like many twins they had been inseparable as children, but once Hizashi received the seal he had become cold and distance toward his brother. It had only gotten worse when Neji was born. It was one thing to endure an injustice against yourself with dignity, but something else entirely when you knew your child would one day have to do the same. As a result, Hizashi had become increasingly hostile toward Hiashi. Michiko had been working with Hizashi's wife, Aki, to encourage the brothers to reconcile their differences. The two women had not had much luck so far, but Jiraiya had faith in his former student. Michiko had a natural talent for worming her way into people's hearts and getting even the most unreasonable person to calm down and think things through. Even the normally belligerent Gamabunta had a soft spot for Michiko and was surprisingly friendly toward her. When Hiashi and Michiko got married, the chief toad had actually been disappointed when he discovered there wasn't enough room at the Hyuuga estate shrine for him to attend the ceremony. Instead he settled on sending her a bottle of his best sake as a wedding gift.

'That was one big ass bottle, too. The damn thing literally weighed two tons. It ended up providing drinks for the entire wedding reception, and even then we still only used about a quarter of it, despite the best efforts of Tsunade and me. Hey, wait a minute! Now that I think about it, Gamabunta likes _all_ my students more than me! Who does that fat ass think he is, anyway! It's my name on the damn contract, not theirs! Okay, Minato's name is on there too, but that's beside the point! Next time I go somewhere truly nasty, I'll make sure to summon him! That'll show him! Hehe, maybe the ocean, since frogs hate saltwater, or better yet the Land of Snow! He bitches like an old woman when it's cold,' Jiraiya ranted inside his head, completely forgetting that the last time he summoned the chief toad to somewhere he didn't want to be without a good reason, Gamabunta had threatened to sit on him if he did so again, summoning contract or no summoning contract.

"I can see the village less than a half mile ahead," Hiashi whispered after deactivating his Byakugan and dropping back in the formation next to Jiraiya. Hizashi took his brother's position on point. "We're not close enough to make out anything speci…"

"Kami!" Hizashi's cry of pain cut off his brother in mid-sentence.

When the three trailing shinobi reached him, the younger of the Hyuuga siblings was rolling on the ground with his hands covering his eyes. They didn't have to guess what caused Hizashi to collapse. Ahead of them, purple light had suddenly started to pour out of the windows of a large building in the center of the small mountainside village. They could literally feel the force of the massive amount of chakra being released pressing down on them. The Leaf shinobi instantly knew what the strange chakra was, having felt a similar chakra slightly less than three months earlier.

"Hiashi wait up," Jiraiya yelled out as the elder Hyuuga brother took off like a shot toward the village, not waiting for the others.

"Kakashi, stick with Hizashi and follow us as soon as you can," Jiraiya tersely ordered as he took off after Hiashi.

Hiashi had a good hundred yard head start on Jiraiya as they sprinted toward the village. Jiraiya knew he was faster in terms of sheer speed, but in the darkness the Byakugan gave the younger man an edge by allowing him to fearlessly run all out while the sannin had to be more careful. By the time Hiashi reached the edge of the village his lead had increased to two hundred yards. Three missing-nins appeared in his path as he neared the first pair of one-story houses that lined one of the village's two roads. Hiashi barely slowed down long enough to kill the chuunin with lightning fast juken jabs to their hearts before resuming his charge toward the village meeting hall where the purple light was still visible. However, once Jiraiya left the rocky terrain and reached the village road he was quickly able to close the distance between himself and Hiashi. Hiashi came to a dead stop as five more missing-nins converged on him. Knowing what was coming, Jiraiya stopped short of Hiashi's position.

"Kaitan!" Hiashi roared as he spun while releasing chakra from all his chakra points. The five missing-nins went flying back into the darkness. Jiraiya could make out two of the five slowly getting up and could sense others closing in from farther away. Hiashi had been in a hurry and hadn't waited for all of them to get withing the lethal radius of the technique. He once again took off as Jiraiya prepared to finish off the two survivor and their approaching comrads so he and Hiashi wouldn't get jumped from behind.

"Go! Go! Go! We'll handle the ones out here! Help my brother!" Hizashi, who had recovered from his momentary blindness, shouted as he and Kakashi caught up.

Jiraiya caught up to Hiashi outside the twelve-foot tall oak and iron double doors of the village meeting hall. Both men slammed into the doors at full speed, blowing them off their hinges.

The purple light quickly receded as they entered. The hall was thirty feet wide and nearly a hundred feet long. In the middle of the hall stood a ten-foot tall black marble statue of a big cat with two tails and fur that looked almost as if it were made of fire, which look eerily alive in the flickering light of the candles that provided the only illumination in the room. Nine shadowy figures stood around a table directly in front of the statue, and on that table sat a basket holding Hiashi's crying daughter. A glowing purple seal still visible on her belly.

A teenaged girl with short blond hair emerged from the shadows to try and scoop up the basket but was stopped dead in her tracks when a kunai thrown by Hiashi struck her dead center between the eyes.

"SATOMI! NOOOO!" a blond headed man yelled before quickly making the hand signs for a jutsu. "Raiton: Ryuka no Jutsu!" A dragon made of crackling electricity tore through the air toward Hiashi.

"Kaiten!" Hiashi yelled in response. The dragon was deflected by the absolute defense and slammed into an older gray-headed Cloud-nin with a beard, instead.

Jiraiya formed a rasengan in each hand and hit two Nii jonin sending one spinning through the air before slamming into the statue while the second knocked over a small group of Nii who were rushing toward the two Leaf shinobi.

Hiashi grabbed the basket off the table and ran for the doors with Jiraiya following, dodging a raiton jutsu in the process. The five Nii who were still able to stand chased after them.

"Kakashi, Hizashi! Let's get out of here!" Jiraiya yelled when they got out into the open. They were almost to the edge of the village before the pair joined up with Jiraiya and Hiashi. Once outside the village Jiraiya skidded to a stop and turned to face the five Cloud-nins and five missing-nins who pursued them.

The sannin bit his thumb and slammed his hand into the ground, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

The ten shinobi chasing them stopped as a massive cloud of smoke blocked their path.

"JIRAIYA, YOU BETTER HAVE A DAMN GOOD REASON FOR SUMMONING ME TO A FREEZING COLD MOUNTAINSIDE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!" A booming voice echoed through the surrounding peaks.

Gamabunta stared down at the small group of ninja a few hundred feet in front of him. "DON'T TELL ME YOU COULDN'T HANDLE THESE WEAKLINGS BY YOURSELF, HA HA HA," the three hundred foot tall toad laughed out loud.

"Oh, I can handle them, but I thought you might like a piece of the guys that injured Michiko and kidnapped her baby," Jiraiya said from on top of Gamabunta's head, causing a near instant change in the boss summon's attitude.

"OH REALLY, THESE LITTLE PISSANTS HURT MICHIKO-CHAN, DID THEY?" Gamabunta asked as he blew a puff of smoke right at the Nii and missing-nins, who by this time were frantically looking for an escape route leading away from the gigantic toad summon.

"Yup, we just rescued her baby from them," Jiraiya answered. "Mind giving me some oil?"

"GLADLY," Gamabunta responded before spitting out a massive stream of oil.

"Katon: Gamayu Endan!" Jiraiya called out as he ignited the stream. The flaming liquid mass washed over the village incinerating everything in its path.

* * *

**Present Time, Cave in the Land of Wind Desert**

"So that's what happened," Kakashi said. "Before we got back to Konoha, Jiraiya added a second seal over the one the Nii made to force the Nibi into a dormant state and make it impossible for the rest of the Hyuuga clan to detect it with the Byakugan. Hiashi and Michiko wanted Hinata to have as normal a life as possible, and after the way Naruto was treated they decided it was best to keep it a secret even from Hinata."

"But how did she find out about it then, and why can she use the Nibi's chakra now?" Sakura asked.

"You'll have to ask Naruto or Hinata that if you want to know that. I was away from the village on a mission when it happened, and only know bits and pieces of the story," Kakashi answered. "Besides, the sand storm sounds like is dying down, and we need to get moving if we want to make it to Sunagakure before sundown."

**End of Chapter 6**

* * *

**There's chapter 6. If you have any questions about the jutsu from this chapter you can find them in the Wikipedia entry on Naruto.**

**Below, I've included three deleted scenes that got edited out of the story because of changes I made elsewhere that made them irrelevant to the storyline.**

**This first one was originally supposed to be the opening scene for Chapter 3. Originally I was going to have Hinata's new apartment right next door to Naruto's, but I decided that was a little too cliché.**

* * *

**Deleted Chapter 3 Opening Scene**

**Or**

"**When Good Food Goes Bad"**

"It'll be great, Hinata! You're going to be living right next door to me," Naruto said as he tried to cheer up Hinata while he and Sakura helped their teammate move her belongings into her new apartment.

"I'll give you my spare key so you can come over anytime you want. Heck, I'll even give you the key to the cabinet where I keep my ramen," Naruto offered sincerely.

That last part finally drew a smile out of Hinata. True, she wasn't a ramen addict like Naruto, but, in this case, it really was the thought that counted. She couldn't imagine Naruto making the offer to anyone else. To tell the truth, she was kind of surprised he made it to her. Her Naruto-kun tended to be rather possessive when it came to his ramen. He was the only person she knew who had a secure ramen cabinet, after all. 'I must really be acting depressed if he's offering that,' Hinata realized. Normally she would have been absolutely giddy at the thought of living so close to Naruto and being able to see him anytime she wanted, unsupervised, but after two and a half years on the road all she had wanted was to go home and sleep in her own room on her own bed. When her father had told her she'd have to live outside the Hyuuga estate, at least for the time being, she'd broken down in tears. She understood it was for her own good. She even agreed with her father's reasoning on the matter. Emotionally, however, it brought back too many memories of the time her father had pawned her off on Kurenai-sensei right after she became a genin. Then, while she was struggling to get her emotions under control, her father did something that he hadn't done since her mother died. Hiashi Hyuuga embraced his daughter. When Hinata looked up she saw what she could only describe as a look of absolute remorse and shame on her father's face. It was then that he made her a solemn promise that he would do everything in his power to make things right so she would be able to return home. That had shocked Hinata, because, if there was one trait Hiashi Hyuuga and Naruto Uzumaki shared, it was that neither man made promises lightly. It also worried Hinata greatly. As powerful as the head of the Hyuuga clan was, this was not the kind of thing even he could easily fix.

"Please tell me you threw out the food in your kitchen before you left _two and a half years ago_!" Sakura groaned when she heard Naruto's offer.

"Umm…maybe," Naruto replied guiltily.

Sakura sighed. "Hinata, I'm going to borrow your boyfriend for a little bit and help him clean out his kitchen, since he seems to be incapable of taking care of himself. Can you handle things here by yourself for a while?"

"Hey, I'm standing right here!" Naruto whined. Both girls ignored him.

"I'll be fine. The only things left to do are making up the bed and finish unpacking my cloths."

"Come on, Baka, let's go take a look," Sakura said as she grabbed Naruto by the arm and dragged him out the door.

Hinata smiled as she watched her two new teammates leave. The way Sakura and Naruto were behaving reminded her of the way Kiba and his older sister, Hana, acted toward each other. Maybe she didn't have anything to worry after all."

"WHAT IS THAT?" Hinata heard Sakura shriek from next door.

"I don't know! It jumped out when I opened the refrigerator," Naruto cried out in a loud voice.

"What do you mean 'jumped out'?"

"I mean I opened the door and it jumped out! What do you think I mean? Umm…Sakura, I don't think it's a good idea to poke it like that."

"OH KAMI, IT JUST MOVED!!!! IT'S ALIVE!!! KILL IT, NARUTO!!! KILL IT!!!"

"I'M NOT GOING TO TOUCH THAT THING!! YOU DO IT!!"

Hinata got up to go see what was going on next door when she heard noises that sounded like a fight. 'WAS THAT NARUTO USING A RASENGAN??' She then heard a sound like a creature of some kind roaring in pain, followed by silence. She almost activated her Byakugan to peek into Naruto's apartment but decided against it. "I'm probably better off not knowing," Hinata sighed before going back to hanging up her shirts in the closet.

A couple minutes later Sakura came over looking the worse for wear. "Hinata, do you have a mop I can borrow? Something kind of…ate Naruto's."

'Definitely better off not knowing.'

* * *

**This next one was also an aborted attempt at Chapter 3. I wrote it before I came up with the idea of the flashback with Hinata's mother and Jiraiya.**

* * *

**Deleted Chapter 3 Opening Scene**

**Or**

"**A Knock at the Door"**

"NARUTO, WAKE UP AND ANSWER THE DOOR!!" Sakura yelled as she pounded on the door to her teammate's apartment door.

She finally heard the sound of Naruto unchaining the door and unlocking the deadbolt.

"About time!" Sakura gasped as he opened the door.

"What are you doing here, Sakura-chan? It's 7:00 in the morning. We're not suppose to meet at Granny Tsunade's office for three more hours," Naruto said groggily. He was still dressed in his sleep cloths, a t-shirt and a pair of long pajama bottoms.

Sakura invited herself in before Naruto could object and closed the front door behind her.

"Naruto-kun, was that Sakura at the door?" Hinata asked with a yawn as she walked out of Naruto's bedroom wearing Naruto's old sleeping cap and one of his t-shirts that came down to her knees.

Sakura's jaw dropped open, although Naruto could easily see the beginnings of a smirk start to form at the corners of her mouth. She pointed at Hinata. "Oh. My. Kami."

Hinata's eyes grew as big as saucers and her face turned almost the same color as Sakura's shirt when she realized the other girl was still there.

'Aww, crap!' Naruto thought.

"Sakura-chan, you can not tell anyone about this, okay?" Naruto pleaded in a suddenly much more awake voice.

"Why shouldn't I?"

"For starters, this isn't what you think. Hinata can't stay at the Hyuuga estate right now, so she's stayed with me last night since it was too late for her father can come up with anything else," Naruto elaborated.

"Please just keep quite about this, it'd mean a lot to both of us." Naruto told Sakura. Hinata nodded in agreement.

"Can I at least talk to Ino about it?" Sakura whinned.

"NO! ESPECIALLY NOT INO!!" Naruto and Hinata both yelled at the mention of Konoha's biggest gossip. The wave of killing intent that came off both her teammates made Sakura tremble in fear.

"Okay! Okay! Geez, I won't say anything, but you both owe me big time. I want to know what the hell is going on, too," Sakura pouted.

"Umm, Sakura, why are you here? It is kind of early, and we were planning on sleeping in for another hour." Hinata asked.

"Oh, yeah! You both need to get dressed right now and come with me to the Hokage's office! We've been requested for an emergency mission!"

"Really? What kind of mission?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"You know as much as I do at the moment," Sakura shrugged. "We need to hurry, though."

Hinata grabbed some cloths and went into the bathroom to get ready. Naruto went into his bedroom and began yanking cloths out of the large wooden wardrobe opposite his bed.

Sakura noticed a pillow and wadded up blanket on the couch.

"Umm, Naruto?"

"Yeah, Sakura?" Naruto responded from the next room.

"Why were you sleeping on the couch and not….you know?" Sakura asked.

"Are you kidding? You've met Hinata's father. You know, tall guy, long black hair, master of the village's deadliest taijutsu style, _can see through walls from long distances away_," Naruto said as he walked out of the bedroom to get his jacket off one of the pegs by the door.

"Oh."

"Naruto-kun, are you ready?" Hinata called out as she opened the bathroom door.

* * *

**And just because I'm a nice guy I've included the lime version (non-explicit) of the chapter 4 missing lemon. **

* * *

**A Deleted Chapter 4 Lime**

**Or**

"**Forget the Damn Sticky Buns"**

Naruto smiled as he gently moved a strand of hair that was hanging in front of Hinata's face behind one of her ears. She looked so cute first thing in the morning with her hair going every-which-way, especially when she had one of those warm, gentle smiles on her face like she did now. It made him wonder for the millionth time why it took him so long to notice her. Hinata began pulling him down into bed with her, before Naruto reluctantly interrupted. "You know, as much as I like where this is headed, and I _reeeeaaallly_ like where it's headed, we've got to meet Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan at the mission room in a little over an hour. So, why don't you get showered and dressed, and I'll have breakfast ready by the time you're through."

Hinata pouted in protest, but got up and started to head toward the bathroom only to stop halfway there like she suddenly remembered something.

"Naruto-kun?"

"Hmm?"

Hinata didn't say anything. Instead she smiled at Naruto seductively over her shoulder while grabbing the hem of the long t-shirt she slept in and slowly pulling it up.

Naruto's breath caught in his throat when Hinata's panties came into view and then her naked back. She paused for a moment as the t-shirt reached just below her breasts. She then pulled the t-shirt the rest of the way off, causing her long dark hair to cascade back down over her shoulders after the shirt passed over her head. She tossed the shirt on top of the hamper in the corner.

Meanwhile, Naruto eyes roamed down her body from her face to the pale smooth skin of her naked back and the swell of her left breast that was just visible as she turned to look over her shoulder at him, to the gentle curves of her hips and bottom, and on to her muscular yet feminine legs.

"You can join me if you want," Hinata said in a barely audible voice causing Naruto's gaze to jerk back to her face. Then without another word she continued on to the bathroom with a subtle sway to her hips.

Naruto could only stare wide-eyed at the open doorway to the bathroom that his girlfriend had just disappeared through.

"Screw it, Kakashi-sensei's going to be late anyway," Naruto said as he snapped out of his trance and head for the bathroom while pulling off his own shirt.

* * *


	7. Chapter 7: The Teapot Lady

**Faith of the Heart**

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**Chapter 7: The Teapot Lady**

When Naruto caught up to Hinata in the next chamber of the cave, she was sitting on a large flat boulder with her knees pulled up against her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs.

"Want to talk about it, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata shook her head 'no' without even turning around to look at him. Knowing she didn't really mean it, Naruto sat down behind his girlfriend with a leg on either side and wrapped his arms around her waist. It was obvious she'd been crying, which explained why she'd run away. Hinata wasn't as shy as she use to be, but she still had a habit of trying to hide when she was upset. Naruto knew it wasn't so much a desire to be left alone, as an instinct she developed growing up in a clan where displays of emotion, especially something like crying, were frowned upon.

"I-I'm s-so s-s-sorry, N-naruto-kun," Hinata sobbed. "I s-shouldn't have t-told your secret. P-please, don't be m-mad. I-I d-don't w-want to l-lose you!"

"Hey, hey, you've got nothing to be sorry for. We needed to tell Sakura anyway. It's better that she heard it from one of us than from someone in Akatsuki, ya know. Besides, it was _our_ secret, not just mine. You had just as much right to tell her as I did," Naruto replied as he tried to comfort Hinata. He couldn't stand seeing her cry. Naruto gently put a couple of fingers under Hinata's chin and turned her head so she was looking him in the eyes. "And I love you, so you're not going to lose me…ever. If anything, I should thank you for sticking up for me." He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips.

After breaking the kiss, they sat in silence for a while longer, just enjoying being close to each other. For two people who had experienced true loneliness in their lives, there was something almost therapeutic in each other's touch. For Naruto, ever time he felt Hinata's soft, warm skin touch his own it served to remind him that he was no longer alone in the world, and as long as she drew breath he never would be again. He knew Hinata felt the same.

Hinata was the first to break the silence. "Naruto-kun," she asked, "why do you let Sakura-san treat you the way she does?"

Naruto sighed, "Sakura-chan doesn't really treat me that badly."

Hinata gave her boyfriend a look that practically screamed, 'Yeah, right.'

Naruto had to laugh at the unexpected expression on Hinata's face, "Okay, okay, I admit it. She's violent, bitchy as hell sometimes, and is more temperamental than baa-chan when Shizune-nee-chan hides her sake, but you have to remember that her, Sasuke-teme, and Kakashi-sensei were three of the first bonds I ever had. Yeah, I do wish she wouldn't hit me so much, but I know that when push comes to shove, Sakura-chan is a true friend and will be there when I need her. It's just that we've always interacted like that, and in the past I was just so grateful to actually have anyone in my life I could call a friend that I didn't care."

Hinata started to get a sad look on her face.

"And before you say anything, I know you wanted to be there for me earlier in my life and it's okay," Naruto said as he lovingly stroked his girlfriend's cheek. "You tried your best, and while I didn't know it was you, I at least knew there was _someone_ out there who cared about me," he smiled at her, when he remembered all the gifts that would mysteriously appear at the doorstep to his apartment on his birthday and the holidays. At first, he'd thought they were from Old Man Hokage, Iruka-sensei, or the man at the Ramen shop and his daughter because who else could possibly care enough to get him anything. But when they all denied any knowledge of the gifts, Naruto had realized there was someone else out there that cared about him. For the life of him, Naruto couldn't figure out who it could be, but he often dreamed up wild fantasies about the identity of the person who left the gifts when he was feeling lonely or when the villagers were being especially cruel to him.

For a while he'd hoped it was Sakura leaving the gifts, but he was realistic enough to realize that it couldn't possibly have been her, especially after she'd called the goggles he'd found on his doorstep the morning of his tenth birthday 'stupid looking.' Although he knew it was nothing more than a fantasy, he'd also imagined that the gifts came from his parents who were actually elite ANBU operatives who were on a super-secret mission vital to the safety of Konoha and weren't allowed to reveal to him that they were still alive. While his daydreams mainly served to make his curiosity grow stronger, they also gave him the little bit of extra hope necessary to survive some of his darkest moments, when he felt like giving up and wondered if everyone would be better off if he just disappeared or died. It was this curiosity, hope, and his desire to thank the gift giver, which drove Naruto to spend years trying to catch his mysterious benefactor in the act of leaving a present. However, no matter what he tried, he could never even catch a glimpse of the person leaving the gifts. It was like he or she always knew when he was watching, no matter how well he hid himself. 'Maybe that's because she really did always know when I was watching," Naruto chuckled to himself at as he looked into Hinata's pale lavender eyes that were a trademark of her clan's kekkei genkai. 'I really should have figured that one out sooner.'

As it was, he hadn't realized it was Hinata until the first birthday party she and Jiraiya threw for him during their training mission. Naruto grinned; it had also been the first time he kissed Hinata, even if it was only on the cheek. Hinata finally managed to work up the courage to give him a gift in person. The first thing Naruto noticed when he opened the card attached to the gift was Hinata's handwriting was identical to the way his mystery gift giver wrote "To Naruto" on the small little card attached to each gift. She had even drawn the identical little chibi Naruto head on the card. At first he'd stared at the card in shock, unable to move or say anything as his mind tried to accept the truth of what he just learned. Then he suddenly jumped to his feet so excited to finally know the identity of the person who had been giving him gifts for so long that he scooped Hinata up and twirled her around and around in circles while yelling, "THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU," at the top of his lungs and smothering her cheek with kisses. She'd turned as red as a lobster and fainted after the second kiss, but Jiraiya had been laughing so hard at Naruto's antics that it took the sannin the better part of five minutes to get around to pointing out Hinata was unconscious. Naruto was mortified because he thought it meant he had somehow injured her, which of course only served to make Jiraiya break out in another laughing fit when the blond-headed boy attempted to perform CPR in an effort to 'revive' her. Hinata momentarily regained consciousness when Naruto laid her down on the floor, but immediately fainted again when she opened her eyes and saw her crush's puckered lips descending toward hers to perform mouth-to-mouth. If Jiraiya hadn't taken pity on Hinata and stopped him, there was no telling how many times she would have fainted before Naruto finally calmed down.

'Speaking of blushing girlfriends,' Naruto grinned when Hinata blissfully smiled back at him while closing her eyes and putting her hands over the one he was using to rub her cheek, as if she was savoring his touch and wishing it would never end. It was one of the many reasons Naruto loved her so much. Hinata reacted to even the smallest displays of love and affection from him as if they were the most priceless gift anyone had ever given her. It warmed Naruto's heart like nothing else because he took it for what it was, a sign of just how much she truly loved and accepted him for who he was, and because he loved being able to make her so happy just by acting the way he felt. The opposite sex, not to mention people in general, had always been a mystery to him. He never knew what to say or how to act, so he just plowed forward through life doing his best and hoping he didn't screw things up too badly. But with Hinata it was so simple. There were no games, no unexplained anger, and no attempts at manipulation. There was nothing but two people deeply in love who acted like it. If he didn't understand something or was confused, he knew he could ask her without her thinking less of him or making fun of him. She did sometimes giggle when he asked an especially clueless question, but she'd still answer his question while wearing that loving smile of hers. He knew she found his occasional confusion 'cute,' as she put it, and was laughing with him, not at him. Most of the time he'd end up laughing along side her while playfully acting like he was trying to 'get her.'

"Naruto-kun maybe you should tell Sakura-san how you really feel about the way she treats you. If she really is your friend, I'm sure she'll understand," Hinata said when she opened her eyes and woke Naruto from his reminiscing

"Maybe I should," Naruto admitted. "But there'd be a big downside," he paused for dramatic effect before a mischievous grin broke out on his face, "I wouldn't get to watch you slap her around again. You were awesome!" He then launched a tickle attack on his girlfriend's sides causing Hinata to let out a squeal and curl up in a ball in a vain attempt to protect herself.

"Hey! No fair!" Hinata gasped when Naruto let up for a brief moment to let her catch her breath.

"All's fair in love and war, Sweetness," Naruto replied before stealing a quick kiss and shoving his hands under Hinata's t-shirt to go after her bare ribs and arm pits which he knew to be especially ticklish. When Temari came to find them a couple of minutes later, Naruto was crouched between Hinata's legs with his hands still up her shirt tickling her mercilessly while she lay squirming on her back and laughing so hard tears flowed out of her eyes.

"Hey lovebirds! The sandstorm is dying down, and we need to get moving," Temari said with a laugh when she saw the Naruto and Hinata laughing and wrestling on the floor of the cave.

"Man, we're going to have to start assigning you two a chaperone," the Sand kunoichi jokingly added as an afterthought while she watched the couple dust themselves off. Hinata and, surprisingly, Naruto blushed in response.

* * *

"Sasori's skills have grown. Poison is one of my specialties, but even I have never seen anything like this before," the old woman said as stared at the injured Kankurou with a look of frustration etched on her wrinkled face. She had been working on finding a counter for the poison, but nothing she tried seemed to have any effect. 

"What should we do, Chiyo-baasama?" Baki asked.

"Well, the only one who has more knowledge about neutralizing poisons than me is that damn slug woman from Konoha, Tsunade-hime. During the Third Secret Ninja War, she was able to figure out the poisons I created and mix antidotes immediately, constantly embarrassing me. All you can do is call her here and ask her to examine him," Chiyo replied. "You're allied to Konoha now, aren't you?"

"But she's Konoha's Hokage now, she can't easily leave the village. Even if she could, it's a three-day journey from Konoha to Suna. By the time she got here it would be too late," Baki said. "The team of specialists we requested from Konoha should arrive soon. Hopefully they'll have someone who can help."

"Humph, stop relying on other people! You're so dependent on your alliances with other countries that you've allowed your own training to slip, and this is what becomes of it!" Chiyo snapped at the jonin.

Baki was grinding his teeth. Chiyo implying that Suna's shinobi had allowed their skills to deteriorate out of complacency was an insult to his professional pride; especially considering the charge wasn't true. If anything, Konoha's aid in reforming their training methods had led to a dramatic increase in the overall quality of training and readiness of their forces. "With all do respect, Elder Chiyo, we have by no means become dependent on our allies…"

Knowing how bitter his sister was about the alliance with Konoha, Chiyo's brother, Ebizo, interrupted in an attempt to head off the fight he saw brewing. "It doesn't matter. Whatever the case may be; it is because he lost his composure and confronted them without backup that he's like this. All the training in the world would not have made a difference."

Ebizo's words did nothing to calm Chiyo though as she continued to lecture Baki, "That still doesn't change the fact that you are having to rely on Konoha, because you didn't make the advancement of our own village's power your first priority. Friendly alliances are just a fabrication. During times like these, all they can do is send useless underlings. THE MAIN POINT IS I CAN'T STAND THAT SLUG WOMAN!"

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"ACHOO!!" 

"Are you alright, Hokage-sama?"

"Probably just allergies," Tsunade said as she wiped her nose, "but thank you for asking, Ten-ten. As I was saying, the mission is the same as the one I gave Kakashi's team. You are to head to Sunagakure and provide the Sand with any support they may need."

"RIGHT!" Gai said while giving the 'nice guy pose' and one of his blinding smiles. "Alright Everyone! Let's get to Suna in one day!!"

"No, Gai-sensei! Let's get there in half a day!!!" Lee chimed in.

"You're friggin' insane!" a bewildered Kiba exclaimed. "There's no way in hell to make it there in less than three days!"

Lee put his arm around Kiba's shoulders, "But we are in the Springtime of Youth, Kiba-san! Nothing is impossible!!"

"Well said Lee!! Well said!!" Gai added. "We shall indoctrinate our new charges into our philosophy of Youthfulness!!" With that Gai pulled two green spandex body suits like he and Lee wore out of his backpack and thrust them into Kiba and Shino's hands.

Akamaru slowly inched away from Kiba, Shino, and the two green-clad shinobi with his tail between his legs. The large dog was terrified that Gai might have another body suit with a tail hole.

Meanwhile, Shino stared at the suit with one raised eyebrow visible above his sunglasses. However, his scientific curiosity was suddenly peaked when he noticed his bugs refused to approach it even when ordered. He pulled out a large plastic sample bag and careful placed the unusual article of clothing inside for later study before sealing the bag with yellow biohazard tape and returning it to his backpack.

"TO SUNA!" Gai shouted loudly enough to make Akamaru whine and all the shinobi, save Lee, wince in pain.

"What have I gotten myself into?" Kiba wondered aloud, as he started to have second thoughts about he, Akamaru, and Shino requesting to tag along with Team Gai for this mission.

Kiba felt a hand pat him on the shoulder and turned his head to see Ten-ten and Neji standing right behind him. Both wore looks of profound sympathy on their faces.

"Welcome to our world."

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"…After that Kankurou-sensei pursued them, but he was wounded when he encountered the kidnappers," Matsuri explained to Team Kakashi and Temari as she led them from the recently cleared main entrance where she met them through the streets of Sunagakure toward the hospital. 

"WHAT?! They got Kankurou too?"

"Yes, Temari-sensei. The Akatsuki he fought managed to poison him. Chiyo-baasama has been treating him, but she has been unable to neutralize the poison. She said he has half a day left at most," the young genin explained.

"SHIT!" Temari cursed. "First Gaara and now this!"

"Let's hurry, Temari-san," Sakura interrupted, "I'll examine him."

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"Kankurou!!" Temari cried out as she, Matsuri, and Sakura entered the treatment room. 

The three girls were halfway across the room by the time Kakashi, Naruto, and Hinata reached the open doorway.

"THE WHITE FANG OF KONOHA!!" Chiyo shouted when she saw Kakashi.

"Huh?" Kakashi said as he came to a dead stop in the doorway.

Chiyo sprang toward Kakashi with such speed that she passed between Temari and Sakura before either realized she had moved.

Spotting the danger, Naruto slid by Kakashi and created a pair of shadow clones. Hinata slipped through the doorway right behind him and took a gentle fist stance midway between Kakashi and Naruto and his clones.

Naruto was surprised when the old woman managed to land a hard enough hit on the first clone she encountered to dispel it. He caught her next punch himself and tried to hold on, but was foiled when Chiyo kicked at the second clone. When the clone blocked the kick Chiyo used it as leverage to break free of Naruto's grip and propel herself backwards to gain enough room to make another attempt at attacking Kakashi.

'Damn, this old bat can fight!' Naruto thought.

Sensing an opportunity, Hinata darted forward through the cloud of smoke left by the dispelled clone and acted as if she was trying to slide tackle Chiyo. Chiyo leaped into the air as Hinata slid under her on the tile floor. The Suna elder threw a single kunai at Kakashi while she was airborne. However, the moment the Suna elder's feet left the ground Naruto closed the distance between them. He drew a pair of butterfly swords from a sheath concealed beneath his jacket and twirled the sword in his left hand, causing the blade to intercept the kunai, sending it clattering harmlessly to the floor. Chiyo then tried to throw a punch that Naruto blocked by using the large d-shaped finger guard of the sword in his right hand like a pair of brass knuckles. Chiyo jerked her bruised hand back in surprised. Naruto then crossed his arms to slash at the old woman as if he was going to cleave her head from her shoulders. However, Naruto stopped both swords in mid swing mere inches before the short, broad blades would have sliced into the woman's skin. He stood motionless with the swords still poised at Chiyo's neck like an oversized pair of scissors. Hinata, who had popped back onto her feet behind the Suna elder with her Byakugan activated, stood ready to close off the old woman's chakra points should she try anything else.

"Mind telling us why you're trying to attack Kakashi-sensei, you wrinkled old hag?" Naruto growled.

"Please, Elder-sama, we do not wish to harm you," Hinata added in a gentler and more diplomatically tone.

Realizing she'd been out maneuvered, Chiyo didn't move except to cradle the bruised knuckles of her left hand, but she continued to glare at Kakashi. "Konoha's White Fang! How dare you come here, you wretched bastard! You killed my son, and I will get revenge for him today!"

"Ah! No! I'm not…" Kakashi attempted to say.

"THERE'S NO USE IN ARGUING, I KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!" Chiyo retorted.

"Nee-chan, take a good look," Ebizo said as he approached his sibling's side. "There's a strong resemblance, but he isn't Konoha's White Fang."

"Huh? Say what?!" Chiyo squinted at Kakashi as she followed her brother's suggestion.

Kakashi waved while giving an awkward smile.

"Besides, Konoha's White Fang died a long time ago. Remember? When you heard, you got really angry and started screaming about how you hadn't avenged your son yet. Isn't that right, Nee-chan?"

A bead of sweat was visible as it trailed down the side of Chiyo's face and a barely audible groan of embarrassment passed her lips.

A few seconds of awkward silence passed uninterrupted in the treatment room.

"Just kidding! I was only pretending to be senile!" Chiyo said in a singsong voice before she started cackling.

Kakashi let out a relieved breath of air.

"What a fruitcake," Naruto muttered under his breath as he re-sheathed his swords.

Hinata gave him her 'that's not nice, Naruto-kun' look.

Naruto looked at her and shrugged. "What? It's the truth."

"Let me guess...the Teapot Lady?" Sakura asked from where she stood next to Kankurou's bed.

Temari gave an embarrassed nod.

Kankurou let out a loud groan and started clutching his throat like he was having trouble breathing.

"Well, now that that's over…get the hell out of the way! Kankurou needs my help," Sakura said as she switched to full medical-nin mode and began shooing the two Suna elders and her teammates away from the hospital bed.

Sakura then began to check over Kankurou. She shined a penlight into his eyes and looked into his mouth before a scowl broke out on her face. "It's a heavy-metal based poison."

Chiyo was impressed that Sakura was able to determine what kind of poison it was after such a brief examination. She was also curious as to how the pink-haired teen planned to proceed, as heavy-metal based poisons were notoriously difficult to treat since the human body had a difficult time flushing them out.

Sakura turned to the Suna medical ninjas and rattled off a list of medical supplies she was going to need. It only took a couple of minutes for them to gather the items on a cart they rolled next to Kankurou's bed.

"I need you to hold him down so he doesn't move," Sakura told Temari and the Suna medical ninjas.

She then proceeded to gather the water from a basin on the cart into a sphere using her chakra. The others watched in amazement as Sakura forced the ball of the water into Kankurou's chest and out through the wound left by Sasori to the left of his heart. When the water exited Kankurou's chest cavity drops of a putrid purple liquid were visible in the water. She deposited the water, and the now diluted poison back into the basin.

"Next one, please," Sakura requested with a nod toward a second basin of fresh water one of the medical ninjas was holding. He traded the basin for the one on the cart containing the poison. "Don't throw that out, I'm going to need it to make an antidote," Sakura added while wiping a bead of sweat away from her brow.

Sakura repeated the process twice more to insure that she drew as much of the poison out of Kankurou's body as possible. By the second basin of water, the color slowly began returning to the injured Sand jonin's face.

"I don't think there's any need to worry about his life anymore," Sakura said. "There are still trace amounts of poison left in his system, but I should be able to make an antidote from the samples we saved."

Temari breathed a sigh of relief as she sat down on the bed next to her brother. "So, he's going to be okay?"

Sakura smiled. Delivering good news was one part of being a medical ninja that she never tired of. "Yes, he should make a full recovery in a couple of days."

Temari hugged Sakura, "Thank you. I'm sorry about what I said earlier…"

"You don't have to apologize, you were right," Sakura cut her off. She glanced over to Naruto and Hinata who were deep in conversation with Baki and Kakashi. 'Now, if I only knew what to say to them.'

"I wouldn't worry about that too much. I'm sure Naruto has already forgiven you," Temari said, after guessing what was on the younger girl's mind.

"It's not Naruto, I'm worried about," Sakura quietly replied as she looked at Hinata who had her back to them.

Chiyo interrupted before Temari could reply, "I'm surprised they sent someone like you. You're a lot like that slug woman."

"Yes!" Sakura replied, grateful for the change of subject. "That's because I'm Tsunade-sama's apprentice. She's the one who sent us. In fact, we're all apprentices of the sannin. My teammates, Naruto and Hinata, spent the last two and a half years training with Jiraiya-sama."

Chiyo was again surprised, while they weren't ANBU or elite jonin like their team leader, the three teens Konoha had sent were obviously something special. 'If the other two are that pervert's apprentices that must make the boy the jurchuuriki of the Kyuubi, and the dark-haired girl the Hyuuga clan leader's eldest daughter,' Chiyo thought, after remembering hearing a report that the Toad sannin had taken on two new apprentices for the first time in a decade and a half. While Chiyo had officially retired, she still paid attention to what was happening around the rest of the shinobi world, especially when she heard familiar names from the old days.

"Maybe the times are changing more than I thought," Chiyo said to Ebizo, who nodded his agreement.

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Far away in the Land of the River, two cloaked figures stood before a large red-painted torii gate that rose from a flowing river. Past the torii gate was a large boulder covered in several paper seals. The largest of which was attached to the center of the boulder and had the kanji for the word _forbidden_ written on it. The smaller of the cloaked men made a hand sign and the boulder groaned and rumbled as it slowly rose in the air to reveal the entrance to a cave. 

The two members of Akatsuki walked across the surface of the river into the cave, a large bird made of clay carrying the unconscious Gaara close behind them.

"You're late," the shimmering image of Akatsuki's leader said as Sasori and Deidara entered the cave. "Prepare it immediately."

"The jinchuuriki was stronger than I thought, yeah," Deidara replied as he placed Gaara on the ground.

"What's the matter, Deidara, couldn't handle the _Ichibi_ by yourself? Good thing you didn't have to go after one of the other bijuu, or you might have lost the other arm, too," a tall figure casually holding a large sword wrapped in bandages across one of his shoulders said from the shadows with a look toward Deidara's torn and blood soaked robes.

"Kisame, that's enough. Deidara has captured his assigned target, which is more than you can say," the image of Akatsuki's leader admonished the new arrival.

"Sorry, Leader," Kisame chuckled.

"What are they doing here, yeah?" Deidara grumbled when he spotted Itachi standing next to his partner.

"We were in the neighborhood," Kisame answered with a toothy grin. Itachi said nothing while meeting Deidara's glare with the same emotionless expression on his face he always wore. The lack of reaction only increased the blond-headed ninja's anger.

Pein made a series of hand signs then placed his palm against the rock floor of the cave. The ground began to rumble as a gigantic statue rose from the ground. The statue had nine eyes, a bit in its mouth, and a pair of chained hands that reached heavenward as if it were begging for mercy from some unseen tormenter.

"Now let us begin," Pein said while looking up to the fingertips of the statue where the four members of Akatsuki who had just arrived in the cave leaped on top of, joining the ghostly projections of the four remaining members whose physical bodies were elsewhere.

**End of Chapter 7**

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**Author's Notes:**

** I've gone back and made a few changes in the previous chapters. Nothing major, but I have changed the names of a couple of the characters. If you've read Chapter 367 of the Naruto manga you know who I'm talking about. I won't spoil it for the rest of you, but if you're a fan of Naruto you need to read 367. Let's just say it answers a major question that a lot of fans have speculated on for quite a while now.**

**I'm amazed at the positive response to the three bonus scenes at the end of Chapter 6 of this story. Thank you all for the feedback, I really appreciate it. One of the reasons I post the bonus sections is to get a better idea what you, the readers, like so I can improve my writing.**

**I've added some links to information on butterfly swords to my profile.**

**Like before I've included some bonus material at the end of the story, including a sneak peak of one of my other projects.**

This first one is another of my aborted Chapter 3/4 attempts. (LOL, Can you tell I a lot of trouble settling on what I wanted to put in those two chapters, yet?)

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**  
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**Discarded Chapter 3/4 Scene**

**or**

"**When It Rains, It Pours"**

**Chapter 4: It Never Rains; It Pours**

Naruto and Sakura waited outside the gate to Training Ground 3 for Hinata and her father to finish talking. The two sannin had already left for the Hokage's office, and Kakashi had gone home to read his new book. After about five minutes of waiting, Naruto spotted Hinata hopping the fence not too far away from where he and Sakura stood and run off into the night.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan, I think we're going to have to take a rain check on the team dinner thing. Could you tell Hinata's dad I'm going after her and not to worry?"

"It's okay. I'll tell him," Sakura responded clearly curious about whatever was going on.

It wasn't all that hard for Naruto to find where she'd run off too. When he'd finally caught up to Hinata, she was sitting on a rooftop water tower not far from his apartment staring at the night sky.

"Want to talk about it, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata shook her head 'no' without even turning around to look at him. Naruto sat down besides his girlfriend and started rubbing her back with his right hand. It was obvious she'd been crying.

"You know, if you really wanted to avoid talking about it, hiding at one of _my_ favorite thinking spots probably wasn't the best plan," Naruto gently told her. Hinata started sobbing, so Naruto pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. He started to rock her back and forth, while stroking her hair and whispering that everything would be okay.

"N-n-naruto-kun, t-t-they k-kn-know." Hinata took a deep breath to compose herself before continuing, "The Hyuuga council found out I'm a jinchuuriki. They know about the Nibi."

"Damn," Naruto gasped. "How'd they find out? I mean besides you and me there are what? Six other people who know?"

"Father doesn't know, Naruto-kun," answered Hinata.

"What are they going to do about it?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know. They are not happy about Father keeping it a secret from them. He is worried they may place the Caged Bird Seal on me as insurance," Hinata replied while trying to keep from breaking into fresh tears.

"You mean so they can control you," Naruto said with a hint of anger in his voice.

Hinata just shrugged meekly in response.

Naruto gently turned Hinata's head so that they were looking into each other's eyes and kissed her lightly on the lips. "I'm not going to let that happen, Hinata-chan."

Hinata was about to ask how when they both nearly jumped out of their skins at a thunderous noise behind them.

"HOLY SHIT!" a voice screamed as the whole tower shook.

* * *

**A Few Moments Earlier**

Jiraiya was heading home to the condo he kept for when he was visiting Konoha to catch a few precious hours of sleep. Half way to his destination, he spotted his two apprentices sitting together in a rather intimate fashion on top of a water tower. However, what really caught his attention was the uninvited guest neither teen had detected. "Oh, what the hell. It's never too late to have a little fun messing with the lovebirds," Jiraiya chuckled to himself.

He quietly landed on the roof of a taller building next door to the one with the water tower and got a running start before leaping as high into the air as he could with the aim of landing right behind his two apprentices. The resulting boom caused by two hundred plus pounds of sannin impacting the top of the half-empty metal water tower rang out like someone striking a gigantic drum. The noise made Naruto and Hinata jump so high they nearly fell off the edge of the tank and caused their eavesdropper to cry out in alarm when she nearly lost her balance on the narrow walkway that ran around the side of the tank.

"Come on up here, Sakura!" Jiraiya called out. A pink-haired and very red-faced head appeared where the ladder ran up the side of the tower a few seconds later.

"Umm, Hi," Sakura mumbled in embarrassment.

Jiraiya then turned his attention back to the other two teens. "What have I told you two about paying attention to your surroundings? Just because you're back in Konoha…doesn't…mean…you…can…" Jiraiya's voice trailed off as he noticed the expressions on the three teens faces. Instead of embarrassment or anger, he saw worry on Naruto's face while Hinata's eyes were red and puffy like she had been crying. Even Sakura seemed to be more worried than embarrassed she was busted eavesdropping. "Did I miss something?" the sannin asked as it finally dawned on him that his first impression of what Naruto and Hinata had been doing on top of the water tower was likely wrong.

* * *

**Sitting Room, Hokage Residence**

"Hiashi, as important as your clan is to Konoha, putting up with this kind of crap makes me wonder if the Hyuuga are really worth it," an exasperated Hokage spoke as she rubbed her temples with her fingers in a vain attempt to ward off a major headache. It was not something she would normally say out loud, but it was 3 AM and she was well past caring whether or not she offended anyone.

Much to his shame, the Hyuuga clan leader could only nod his head in agreement with Tsunade. The normally stoic Hyuuga's face was etched with worry and frustration. He'd come straight to the Hokage complex after Hinata had run off. He'd been torn between his desire to find his daughter, and his obligation to tell the Hokage that the Hyuuga council had discovered Hinata's secret. Luckily, Naruto had made the decision easier by following Hinata when she ran from the training ground.

"How'd they find out anyway?"

"I don't know. It was Haru who brought it up at the council meeting, and he would not say where or from whom he got the information," answered Hiashi.

"It would have to be that pissant, wouldn't it?" Tsunade sighed.

A knock caused Tsunade to turn in time to see Jiraiya stick his head in through the half opened door.

"We've got a problem."

"If you're talking about the Hyuuga council, Hiashi just told me," Tsunade replied.

"Well, that's part of it," Jiraiya said as he opened the door wider to reveal Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura. "Sakura here was eavesdropping on the Brat and the Squirt and overheard them talking about the Nibi."

"That's lovely," Tsunade replied sarcastically. "Maybe I should just make a public announcement about it to make sure the whole village knows. Or better yet, I could have a genin team follow her around pushing a big neon sign that say's 'Hinata Hyuuga, Jirichuriki of the Nibi.' What do you think?"

"I'd be willing to volunteer Konohamaru's team for the job," Naruto offered, earning a bop on the head from Jiraiya.

"What exactly did you overhear, Sakura?" Tsunade asked.

"That Hinata is the jinichuriki for the Nibi, and the Hyuuga council knows about it and isn't happy," Sakura summarized.

"Okay, we might as well give you the whole story since you three are going to be teammates."

"Umm, the _whole_ story?" Naruto asked nervously.

* * *

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**This next one is one of the scenes a draft of my Naruto/Stargate SG-1 crossover. Please let me know what you think. I've got two different story plots I'm playing with at the moment, and can't decide which one to go with. I'll post the second version with the next chapter.  
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"**Missing in Action"**

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"Well, so much for this planet being uninhabited," Carter sighed.

SG-1 had been on a standard scouting mission to a supposedly uninhabited planet only to discover a Goa'uld had apparently set up shop on the planet. A fact the team quickly learned when they spotted a landed mother ship and a new base under construction. They'd then tried to make it back to the stargate only to see a force of around one hundred Jaffa go through the gate while fifteen remained behind to guard it. That had been four hours ago, and SG-1 was still hiding in the same spot watching the fifteen Jaffa.

"Anyone got any ideas?" Daniel asked.

"I have none, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c answered.

"Colonel?" Sam asked.

All three turned to look at Colonel O'Neill. "We keep waiting. Hopefully they'll leave after the rest of the Jaffa come back." O'Neill paused for a moment before turning toward the Jaffa member of his team. "Hey, Teal'c, why would they leave a guard force behind for this side of the gate, anyway."

"Most likely, the force we saw go through the stargate was a raiding party sent to capture humans to serve as hosts and slaves," Teal'c answered thoughtfully. "If that's the case, the Jaffa on this side are here to guard any prisoners the raiding party might send back, not the stargate, itself."

Colonel O'Neill was about to respond when the stargate started to activate. As soon as the event horizon of the wormhole formed, Jaffa started running out of the stargate. The third Jaffa to exit the stargate was carrying an unconscious teenage girl with long dark hair over his shoulder. Three more Jaffa appeared, but, as soon as the sixth Jaffa exited, he was hit from behind and knocked out by an orange blur that came out of the stargate just before it closed. The blur then shot straight toward the fifth Jaffa. The figure slowed down just enough for the members of SG-1 to make out a blonde-headed boy dressed in an orange and black outfit, who was about the same age as the girl. When he reached the fifth Jaffa that had exited the stargate the boy slammed his fist into the taller man's face with unbelievable force causing the Jaffa to collapse in a heap. The teen then threw a knife out to each side striking two of the Jaffa who had been guarding the gate in their throats. Then the teen yelled out something as a glowing, spinning ball of light formed in his right hand. The boy slammed the ball of light into another Jaffa who had turned to fire his staff weapon at the boy. When the ball of light struck the Jaffa it blew apart the chest plate of his armor and sent him flying backward at an incredible velocity causing the Jaffa to slam into three of his comrades. The boy made a gesture with his hands and yelled out something else in a language that Daniel thought sounded similar to Japanese, and suddenly ten duplicates of the boy appeared out of thin air. Seven more Jaffa fell when the boy made another series of signs with his hands and called out something else, causing one of the duplicates to explode in the midst of a group of ten. By this time, five of the six Jaffa who had not been killed or otherwise incapacitated recovered enough to begin firing back with their staff weapons. The first barrage of staff blasts were either dodged or hit duplicates which disappeared in puffs of smoke. However, one blast in the second barrage managed to get through the boy's defenses to strike him in the side just below the ribcage. Despite the wound, he somehow managed to throw one last knife at the Jaffa carrying the girl before collapsing. The knife struck the Jaffa in the back of the thigh and caused him to drop the girl and fall to the ground clutching the profusely bleeding wound. However, when the boy collapsed due to his injuries the last of his duplicates that had been keeping the Jaffa busy also disappeared. The surviving Jaffa began to cautiously move in to finish off the teenager.

"Ah hell," Colonel O'Neill growled as the shock of watching a lone teenager take down fifteen Jaffa in spectacular fashion in less than ninety seconds wore off. "Daniel dial the gate. Teal'c, grab the boy. I'll get the girl. Carter, cover us." Sam, Jack, and Teal'c rose as one and began firing at the surviving Jaffa while Daniel sprinted for the DHD. The five Jaffa still standing quickly fell in a hail of bullets and staff blasts.

Teal'c reached the boy and was surprised to see him attempting to stand despite the serious wound. The boy saw the Colonel kill two of the remaining Jaffa with his P90, carefully scoop up the girl, and start moving toward them. He turned to Teal'c with a grateful smile on his face before collapsing into the older man's arms.\

* * *

**Earth: Stargate Command**

"Unscheduled off-world activation," Sergeant Harriman called out over the public address system.

"What have you got, Sergeant?" General Hammond asked as he entered the control room.

"It's SG-1's IDC, sir," the glasses-wearing sergeant replied.

"Okay, open the iris."

A moment after the iris opened Daniel ran through the gate holding up two fingers and yelled, "Medics!"

"Med-team to the Gate Room. We have two incoming wounded," rang out over a speaker in Sick Bay.

A couple of minutes later the rest of SG-1 came through the gate carrying the two teens who were quickly passed off to Dr. Frasier and the arriving med-team.

"Janet, we've got one male, age fifteen or sixteen, who got hit in the abdomen by a staff blast, and an unconscious female of about the same age. We're not sure what happened to her," Major Carter called out when she saw Dr. Frasier.

Looking at the wound on the blonde-haired teen, Dr. Frasier ordered, "Okay, the boy's wound is pretty serious, but he doesn't seem to be in any immediate danger. Get him down to Sick Bay and get him stabilized. Let's take a look at the girl."

One of the medics had pulled out a penlight and had opened one of the girl's eyes. "What the… Dr. Frasier, you need to take a look at this!"

Dr. Fasier looked up from where she had been taking the girl's pulse and was stunned to see that the girl's eyes was unusually shiny, almost like they had a reflective layer similar to the tapetum located behind the retina of a cat's eyes that allows them to see well in low light conditions. However, what shocked Dr. Frasier the most was the pale lavender color of the irises and the apparently lack of pupils. "Whoa! Now, _that_ is different!"

"What is it?" General Hammond, who had just entered the Gate Room, asked.

"Sir, I'm not sure. It looks like she was just hit by a Zat gun or Goa'uld shock grenade, so she should be fine, but her eyes have a highly abnormal physiology," Dr. Frasier answered. "It could be a mutation or some kind of medical condition. I'd like to get her down to Sick Bay to give her an MRI and some other tests, just to be on the safe side."

The general simply nodded his approval and said, "Keep me informed." Dr. Frasier and the medic moved the girl to a gurney to take her to Sick Bay.

"Janet, you might want to do the same with the boy. He displayed some 'unusual abilities' when we encountered him," Sam added.

'I'll do that," Dr. Frasier said as she accompanied the gurney out of the Gate Room.

"Colonel, have your team check in your weapons and gear. Then I want all of you to report immediately to the conference room for a debriefing," General Hammond ordered as he turned to the leader of SG-1.

"Yes, Sir," Colonel O'Neill replied.

* * *

**Earlier on Naruto's World**

Yamato skewered one of the strange enemies using one of his Mokuton techniques, but had to take cover as two more fired blasts from their strange weapons. However, before Yamato could retaliate his two armor wearing opponents were launched through the air by a kunai with an explosive tag attached. Turning toward the direct the kunai had originated from Yamato spotted the rest of Team Kakashi and Team 8 approaching.

"What's the situation?" Hatake Kakashi asked as he leaped off a rooftop to land next to his former-ANBU colleague.

"When we arrived in the village we found that around a hundred of whoever these guys had rounded up the villagers in the town square, killing a number of them in the process. We engaged them while I sent Bull to find you."

Yamato and Kakashi looked over as Sakura knocked a house down on top of three more of the enemy fighters.

"They don't appear to have the ability to use chakra, but their weapons are fairly powerful and they fight well as a unit. Also, according to Hinata, there is something weird about their body structures. Right now, there are only thirty or forty of them that haven't been killed or incapacitated."

"What did Hinata see?" Kakashi asked.

"I don't know. She never got a chance to tell me. She was trying to protect the last of the villagers as they fled the battle, but some kind of device that emitted a bright light and unbelievably loud noise went off right next to her and knocked her out. About ten of these guys grabbed her and ran off in the direction of the castle," Yamato answered as he nodded toward a historic castle on the hill overlooking the village that had been turned into a tourist attraction. "Naruto took off after them a couple of minutes ago. I don't think he'll have a problem defeating ten of them by himself and recovering Hinata, but it might be a good idea to send him some backup just in case."

"Sakura! Shino!" Kakashi called out. The two chunnin quickly made their way over to the two older men while dodging blasts of energy from the strange staff weapons.

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei?" the pink-haired teen asked.

"Hinata has been captured by a group of enemy numbering about ten. They ran off in the direction of the old castle. Naruto is in pursuit. I want you two to back him up. Shino did you plant your insects on Naruto and Hinata?" The quiet chunnin nodded yes in response. "Good, then you shouldn't have any trouble tracking them."

The two chunnin took off in the direction Naruto had run.

"You're worried about Hinata, aren't you, Shino?" Sakura asked a few minutes later as the pair sped through the treetops. Shino was normally difficult to read, but some how Sakura could sense that he was more tense than usual. He was just giving off a 'worried vibe' as Ino would say.

"Yes, Hinata is my teammate and my friend," Shino answered.

"Don't worry. Naruto won't let anything happen to her. He may be too big of an idiot to realize Hinata likes him, but he still considers her one of his precious people and won't let her get hurt," Sakura said reassuringly.

"How long have you known?" Shino asked.

"That Naruto can be an idiot? Since the day I met him. That Hinata likes Naruto? Since that first Chunin Exam we all took together," Sakura answered with a small smile.

"Hinata still worries that she'll lose him to you."

Sakura sighed. "She doesn't have anything to worry about. I mean I think he's a lot more handsome since he came back, and I do 'love' him, just not in that way. Naruto is kind of like a cross between my best friend and the annoying little brother I never had. To tell you the truth, I think Naruto feels the same way about me now. He still hints at us going out on a date every now and then, but he doesn't seem serious about it anymore. I think he just does it to tease me more than anything else. Besides, I think Naruto and Hinata would make a cute couple."

The two teens continued on in silence for a few more minutes.

"Shino," Sakura said without looking at the other ninja.

"Yes?"

"If you breath a word about me thinking Naruto is handsome to anyone, especially him, I'll hose you down with insecticide and castrate you in your sleep," Sakura said in a calm, even voice that sent chills up and down Shino's spine.

The normally fearless and unflappable teen let out an audible gulp. "Understood."

"I think we've almost caught up to Naruto," Shino added in an attempt to change the subject.

Sure enough, Shino and Sakura passed the dead bodies of four of the strangely dressed and armed men that had attacked the village. One of them had clearly been killed by a rasengan to the chest. A minute later, the two Leaf ninjas topped a ridge behind the castle and saw an amazing sight. A large ring sat perpendicular to the ground at the top of a small marble set of steps. Inside the ring, a shimmering pool of water seemed to be defying gravity, as it, like the ring that contained it, was also perpendicular to the ground. An unusual looking pedestal with a small dome made out of some kind of red crystal sat a short distance away from the ring. As Sakura and Shino began to run down the hill, they saw one of the attackers run into the pool with an unconscious Hinata over his shoulder. He was quickly followed by three more. Sakura watched as Naruto caught up and leaped into the pool right behind the four men. Then the pool simply vanished in a brief flash of light, leaving no trace of the men or Naruto and Hinata.

"I think we need to get Kakashi-sensei and Yamato-sensei," Sakura said as she came to a stop and stared wide-eyed at the ring while her mind tried to process what she'd just seen.

"Agreed," Shino said.

* * *

**Naruto's World: Hokage's Office**

"Okay, let me get this straight. Hinata was knocked unconscious and captured during a battle with a mysterious group of attackers, that we now know are not even human. Naruto took off in pursuit of some of the attackers who tried to escape carrying Hinata. You two chased after him," Tsunade said as she pointed at Sakura and Shino, "and arrived just in time to see some of our mystery attackers escape with Hinata into what looked like a pool of water that was perpendicular to the ground and contained by what the locals thought was a glorified lawn ornament. Then you saw Naruto follow the kidnappers into the pool of water right before it vanished."

"Correct," Kakashi and Sakura answered.

"That boy is going to be the death of me," Tsunade groaned as she rubbed her temples in a vain attempt to ward off her approaching migraine.

Tsunade turned to the scarred special jonin who was also in her office, "Ibiki, have you been able to get the prisoners to talk?"

"Oh, I can get them to talk. The problem is I don't know their language and they don't know ours so I have no idea what they're saying," Ibiki responded.

Tsunade looked down at the drawing of the ring and the pedestal that Sai had included in his report.

"Sakura, get together with Shikamaru to see if you can dig up some more information on whatever this thing is and what it does," Tsunade said as she held up Sai's drawing. Ibiki, I want you to keep working on the prisoners. Try to find someone who can figure out what language they're speaking. Kakashi, go find my perverted former-teammate and bring him back here. Dismissed," Tsunade ordered.

Shizune stuck her head in the door to the Hokage's office. "Tsunade-hime, Hyuuga Hiashi is here to see you."

"Oh isn't that just lovely. Show him in as soon as everyone clears out, Shizune. Also, bring me a bottle of sake. I think I'm going to need it. Yamato, you're staying for this."


	8. Chapter 8: Uninvited Guests

**Faith of the Heart**

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**Statement of the Obvious: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters from the manga or anime. However, I do mess with their lives in "hilarious and unpredictable ways" in fan fiction.**

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**Chapter 8: Uninvited Guests**

"Could you guys keep it down? There are sick people trying to sleep in here," Kankurou groaned as he sat up from the hospital bed.

"Kankurou!" Temari exclaimed as she turned around and hugged her younger brother.

As his blurry vision began to return to normal, Kankurou noticed Sakura, Hinata, and Matsuri standing around his bed.

"If I'd known this is what it took to get pretty girls to visit me, I would have gotten wounded a long time ago," Kankurou joked.

The girls, including Temari, smiled at Kankurou's rather flattering attempt at humor.

"Oh…and I'm glad you're here too, Temari," he wisecracked with a smirk on his face.

Temari let go of her brother, causing him to fall back to the bed with a loud "oof."

"I think he's feeling better," Temari growled, one eye twitching in annoyance.

Kankurou sat up on his elbows and looked at Sakura with a grin.

"Don't get your hopes up, puppet boy. I don't date guys who wear more make up than I do."

Kankurou pouted before turning his head toward Hinata. "Sorry, Kankurou-san, but I already have a boyfriend," Hinata said as Naruto walked up and put his arm around her shoulders.

"I'm just here to find out what happened to Gaara-sensei," Matsuri said in a quite voice before Kankurou could even look at her.

"And I'm way out of your league," Chiyo chimed in with a toothy smile and a wink as she stepped into Kankurou's field of view.

Kankurou's face paled. "T-th-that's okay. I changed my mind, I like being alone."

"Great! Now that Kankurou's better, all we have to do is wait for Sakura to make the antidote thingy, then we can get going!" Naruto announced in a too loud voice that made everyone around Kankurou's bed wince.

"Inside voice, please, Naruto-kun," Hinata said while holding a hand to her now deafened left ear.

"Oops. Sorry about that, Hinata-chan. I forgot," Naruto said in a much quieter voice while rubbing the back of his head and neck in embarrassment with his free hand.

Hinata flashed Naruto a quick 'thank you/it's okay' smile for his change in volume, which he returned.

Sakura looked in astonishment to first Naruto, then Hinata. "How'd you get him to do that? Whenever I try to shut up him up, he just gets louder."

"I didn't ask Naruto-kun to "shut up." I asked him to be _quieter_…nicely…without hitting or yelling at him," Hinata replied while giving Sakura a brief, annoyed glare.

"Oh."

The terse reply did not go unnoticed. Naruto appeared uncomfortable as he looked back and forth between Hinata and Sakura. Chiyo merely raised a questioning eyebrow. The dark-haired girl's reaction seemed out of character for what little the Suna elder had seen of her so far, and Naruto's obvious discomfort at the exchange made Chiyo curious.

"You need to hold on for a moment, Naruto. We have to find out where Akatsuki took Gaara first." Kakashi interrupted, saving his three charges from the uncomfortable silence that followed Hinata's words.

"Yeah, I guess that would help," Naruto sheepishly admitted.

Kakashi turned toward Baki, "You said Kankurou went out alone, and then you sent another team out in pursuit, right?"

Baki nodded, "Yes, part of the team brought Kankurou back to the village when they found him about half a day's travel to the southwest. The rest of the team continued the pursuit. We have not heard from them in over a day, and if Kankurou is correct about one of the Akatsuki members being Sasori of the Red Sands, I can only assume they are dead."

"Well, I may not look like it, but I am an expert at tracking. Could you please have one of the shinobi who brought Kankurou back take me to where they found him? If even a small amount of their scent was left behind, I should be able to pick up the trail."

"Don't bother," Kankurou said. "There are two of them. One abducted Gaara, so you should follow his scent. I managed to snag a bit of the other one's clothing with Karusa's arm, so you can track them even if they split up."

At hearing this, one of the medical-ninjas retrieved a large bundle from the next room containing Kankurou's recovered puppets. The medical-ninja unrolled the bundle and Kakashi crouched down to pull the scrap of cloth out of the shattered puppet's hand.

"You didn't stop fighting, even when you were defeated. I'd expect nothing less from a shinobi of the Sand," Kakashi complimented.

Kankurou grinned.

Kakashi walked outside to summon his ninja hounds

"Kankurou, are you alright?" Temari asked as she noticed her brother suddenly looking dizzy.

"Just feeling a little light headed," Kankurou said as he struggled to keep his eyes opened.

"Go ahead and sleep, you shouldn't be moving around too much, yet," Sakura said.

Kankurou nodded, lay back down, and closed his eyes.

Naruto and the others heard yipping and barking coming from outside as the ninja hounds took off to search for the trail.

"So now what?" Naruto asked when Kakashi came back inside.

"After Sakura's finished here, we should get some sleep ourselves while we wait for Pakkun and the others to find something," Kakashi answered with a shrug.

Naruto looked ready to protest, until Kakashi added, "Not all of us have your stamina, Naruto, and we're going to need to be at our best when we encounter Akatsuki."

To Kakashi's surprise, Naruto conceded the point without argument.

"The Kazekage's office has a suite reserved at one of the local hotels for use by visiting shinobi and diplomats. I'll have someone take you over there," Baki said.

* * *

At the sound of the doorknob turning, Kakashi awoke and instinctively grabbed the handle of the kunai stashed under his pillow. The jonin glanced over to the next bed and was pleased to see that, while at first glance Naruto still appeared to be asleep, both of the blonde's eyes were open and focused on the door of their hotel room. When he looked back at the door, Kakashi noticed a pajama-wearing clone had appeared next to it. He was mildly impressed that Naruto had managed to create a shadow clone without him seeing or hearing the teen perform the jutsu. 

The door slowly creaked open.

"Hinata, is something wrong?" Kakashi asked when he saw it was the Hyuuga heiress at the door with her unzipped sleeping bag wrapped around herself.

"T-t-the w-window in m-my room is s-stuck open and it's f-f-freezing c-c-cold in there," Hinata answered, stuttering not out of embarrassment but because she was so cold that she couldn't talk without her teeth chattering. While the desert had been broiling hot during the daylight hours, the dry desert air and parched sand did next to nothing to retain any of that heat after the sun went down. As a result, the temperature had dropped fifty or sixty degrees outside in the six hours since Team Kakashi arrived in Sunagakure.

Kakashi was about to offer to see if he could fix the stuck window when his peripheral vision caught the movement of Naruto lifting up the covers on his bed.

Without a word, Hinata shuffled over to Naruto's bed. The clone, which had followed her from the doorway, lifted the sleeping bag off of her shoulders before she climbed into the bed with the real Naruto. Naruto lowered the covers back down over Hinata and himself. The clone then spread the sleeping bag on top of her side of the bed. She gave the clone a thank you kiss on the check before it vanished in a puff of smoke. The real Naruto put a hand against his cheek and smiled after the clone disappeared. He gave Hinata a quick kiss on the lips and pulled her close to his own body to warm her up.

'Okay, this is new,' Kakashi thought. Despite his naturally perverted nature, the jonin had qualms about letting the two teens share a bed, but he wasn't sure what, if anything, he should say about it. In theory at least, Naruto, Hinata, and the rest of the Rookie Nine became adults the second they were promoted to genin. Old enough to kill and die as shinobi. In practice, however, they had been kids shouldering adult responsibilities in a very dangerous world, something not ignored by the powers-that-be in Konoha. By law, they were too young to drink, vote in the elections for the village council's lower house, or marry without a guardian's permission. It was also the reason they were assigned to a jonin-sensei after they graduated from the academy. The practice gave the young genin the opportunity to gain experience in the very adult profession they had chosen, while recognizing that they were not mature or experienced enough to go on missions without someone to watch over them. These seeming inconsistencies were not the result of hypocrisy on the part of the society they lived in. Instead, they stemmed from the age-old belief among shinobi that your status as an adult was something that was earned and not given freely when you reached a certain age. While Kakashi had meant what he said when he told Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura he considered them equal Konoha shinobi, he also had to admit to himself that deep down a part of him still thought of the teens as the twelve year old genin they had been three years earlier. The reality was the three teens he now lead, along with their friends, had earned the right to be considered adults at a far earlier age than anyone since his generation. The part of him that thought of them as twelve-year-old genin was merely reluctant to accept that fact, because it remembered what the cost of obtaining his own status as an adult had been. The masked jonin sighed at this epiphany. 'I guess Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura are not the only ones who have to get use to the change.'

At this point, Kakashi noticed that Naruto and Hinata had already drifted back to sleep, a contented smile visible on each teen's lips as they snuggled together for warmth. The sight made up his mind about whether or not to say anything. Since Team 7's first overnight training mission, Kakashi had known that Naruto had trouble sleeping. He always fell asleep quickly, but was restless in his slumber and frequently woke up during the night. The blonde rolled around in sleep, often kicking off his blanket or sleeping bag. On more than one occasion he and Sasuke had awoken to find Naruto partially draped over them at odd angles to the position he had originally been laying in. Waking up to the sight and smell of Naruto's foot inches from his face one morning after a couple of shower-free days in the field ranked among Kakashi's least favorite experiences as a jonin-sensei and had briefly made him wonder if it was too late to change his mind about letting Team 7 pass the bell test. Kakashi had also observed that Naruto would frequently doze off at meals or whenever else he had to sit down for any length of time, a sure sign the boy hadn't been getting enough sleep. However, what really worried the jonin were the nightmares. More than once, Naruto woke up the middle of the night with a scream or drenched in sweat and crying. Kakashi suspected the incidents were one of the reasons Sasuke and Naruto had bonded so strongly. The dark-haired boy, no stranger to nightmares himself, never taunted Naruto about it, despite the fact he had no reservations about doing so with anything else. In fact, Kakashi had overheard Sasuke cover for Naruto on more than one occasion when Naruto's screams woke Sakura. Once, he had even come into the tent Naruto and Sasuke shared to find Sasuke shaking Naruto awake with an unusually concerned expression on his face saying, "Dobe, it's okay, it was just a dream." However, now, for the first time in Kakashi's memory, Naruto seemed to be sleeping peacefully. When he did see a small frown briefly form on Naruto's face, it quickly vanished when Hinata, seemingly in reaction to her boyfriend's sudden tensing, unconsciously squeezed the hand of the arm Naruto had draped over her and snuggled even closer to his body. 'I won't say anything. Kami help Naruto and me if her father finds out though,' Kakashi thought with a shiver. Although you'd never know it from listening to him, Hiashi Hyuuga was an overprotective father. It was one of the reasons he had pushed his daughters so hard to grow stronger. He wanted them to be able to look out for themselves when he was gone. The Hyuuga patriarch pushed Hinata and Hanabi too hard in Kakashi's opinion, but as a confirmed bachelor he wasn't exactly in a position to give parenting advice to anyone.

'Those two have got the right idea,' Kakashi thought with a yawn when he looked over at the sleeping couple again. His own tired muscles were reminding him of the last three days he'd spent running from Konoha to Suna. He needed to get what sleep he could before morning. However, before he fell asleep, Kakashi remembered the kiss Hinata gave the clone and Naruto's reaction after the shadow clone disappeared. He made a mental note to ask Naruto how much he knew about that particular aspect of shadow clones.

Kakashi let out another yawn. 'It can wait until tomorrow.' He laid his head back down on his pillow and tried to return to the dream he'd been having where he was one of the characters from _Icha Icha Tactics_. Before Hinata woke him up, he had almost gotten to his favorite scene in chapter six, where Daiki sees Airi dancing naked under the waterfall, but doesn't realize it's her. 'Where does Jiraiya get this stuff," Kakashi chuckled to himself as he felt his mind begin to surrender to its need for sleep.

* * *

Sakura entered the hotel suite the next morning deep in thought. When she left two hours earlier at 5:00 AM to check on how Kankurou was reacting to the poison antidote, she noticed the door to Hinata's room was open and her bed empty. She thought it was odd, but figured her new teammate had simply gotten up early to eat breakfast or get a light workout to stretch out. That's why she had been surprised when Kakashi asked her to go wake up Naruto and Hinata, who he said were still asleep in bed together when he had left the hotel suite to meet Baki, and for the three of them to meet him in front of the hotel. 

She wasn't sure what to make of the news that Naruto and Hinata had spent the night together in the same bed. Until Kakashi told her about the stuck window, she had automatically assumed that when he said they slept together he meant they had _slept_ together. 'That was kind of dumb of me. Kakashi-sensei was in the same room last night, so they couldn't have done anything. Kakashi-sensei would have been chuckling like he does when he reads those perverted books of his if they had. Besides, given how cold it was last night, I probably would have climbed into to bed with my boyfriend too if my window was stuck open…and I had a boyfriend.'

Sakura frowned at that last thought. Since Sasuke left the village she had devoted herself to her training with Tsunade and had avoided getting romantically involved with anyone. At first it hadn't been a big deal. She was only thirteen at the time, and not many people her age were dating either. However, as time passed she began to feel more and more lonely. Naruto and Sasuke were gone; Kakashi was always outside the village on high-ranking missions, sometimes for months at a time; and after she passed her second Chuunin Exam, Sakura rarely got to spend any time with any of her friends except for when one of them would come into the hospital to get patched up after a mission. What really troubled her was when she noticed all the others starting to go out on dates. It wasn't that she didn't get asked out. She had more than her fair share of offers, but turned them all down. No. The problem was she didn't know how she felt about Sasuke, and she didn't feel right saying yes to anyone until she sorted her feelings out. To make matters worse, she was now on a team with Konoha's most 'lovey-dovey' couple, which only served to rub in the fact that her own love life was non-existent. Sakura rolled her eyes. 'I swear if I hear those two start talking to each other in baby talk again like they did when we got to the hotel last night, 'Saku-chan' is going to get 'sicky wicky' all over the damn floor.'

As she started down the short hall that lead to the hotel suite's bedrooms, Sakura heard Naruto's frustrated sounding voice coming from within his and Kakashi's room. "Damn, it's just not going in!"

"Maybe we should try a different angle, Naruto-kun," Hinata said. "If I get down like this and you move over a little that way it might be easier."

Hinata's voice made her pause just as she was about to knock on the bedroom door. 'What the hell?'

"You're right! I can feel it starting to slide in a little!" _Pant, pant, pant._ "Oh, yeah! There we go!" Naruto said breathlessly.

'Are they doing what I think they are doing? Geez, we're on a mission!' Sakura thought. 'I ought to burst down that door and…' Sakura's brain froze in mid thought and her cheeks warmed as the little grunts and heavy breathing of her teammates got louder. "Then again," the pink-haired teen whispered to herself with a perverted smile, "it might be fun to listen in for a little bit." If she wasn't getting any action herself, at least she could live vicariously through her teammates. It wouldn't hurt anything if she did it just this once, right?

"Don't go so fast, Naruto-kun. It's too big, if you force it you'll…OWIE!" Hinata cried out in pain.

On the other side of the door, Sakura's eyes went wide.

"Oh, no! I am so sorry, Hinata-chan! Are you okay? I didn't mean to hurt you!"

"I'll be fine. Just give me a minute before we try again," Hinata sniffled.

"Sure thing, whenever you're ready," Naruto said guiltily.

A moment of silence passed before Sakura heard Hinata giggle.

"What are you doing, Naruto-kun?"

"Kissing it better," Naruto replied. Sakura could just make out the faint sound of Naruto's lips smacking as he kissed some part of Hinata's body.

"That feels _really_ nice when you use your mouth like that," Hinata sighed happily, " but I think I'm ready to try again."

"Okay, we'll take it nice and slow this time," Naruto replied.

"Right, let's do our best, Naruto-kun," Hinata answered in an upbeat voice.

"On three, ready?"

"Mmhmm."

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

Sakura could hear both Naruto and Hinata start breathing heavily as they exerted themselves.

"Wow! It's working! It's actually going in, Naruto-kun!" Hinata excitedly announced between labored breaths.

"It's not in all the way yet, but, yeah, we're getting there," Naruto said as he let out a loud grunt. "We've still got seven or eight more inches to go."

'CHA! HE MUST BE HUNG LIKE A HORSE!' Inner Sakura yelled inside Sakura's subconscious.

Sakura's own breathing was starting to become ragged and her face flushed in arousal. 'Kami, I'm actually getting turned on by this.'

"Just a little more," Naruto said, the concentration evident in his voice.

"Sakura, what are you doing just standing here?" Kakashi asked from behind her, causing Sakura to jump and let out a yelp.

"Don't sneak up on me like that," Sakura said in an angry, embarrassed whisper while clutching the front of her shirt in an effort to will her rapidly beating heart to slow down.

"I didn't sneak up on you. I sent you to find Naruto and Hinata fifteen minutes ago," Kakashi said in at his normal volume. "Where are they?"

Sakura pointed at the door.

"Well, let's go in," Kakashi said as he started to turn the doorknob.

"NO! DON'T OPEN THE DOOR! THEY'RE…" Sakura yelled out as Kakashi pushed open the door.

"…having a fucking hard time repacking this damn thing!" Naruto cursed as he finished Sakura's sentence for her. He was panting out of breath on the floor where he was pushing on Hinata's sleeping bag while she held the stuff sack open.

"Hi, Kakashi-sensei," Hinata said as she and Naruto continued the struggle to cram the sleeping bag back in its sack.

"Finally!!" Naruto groaned when they reached a point where they could close the drawstrings.

Meanwhile, Sakura still stood in the hallway with her mouth opening and closing like a fish's. 'They were packing! But...but I thought they were…' No one seemed to notice her.

"Hey, Naruto, long time, no see."

"Pakkun!" Naruto happily exclaimed when he saw the small pug step out from behind Kakashi.

'And I was getting off on listening to them and they weren't even doing anything! Does that make me a…a…pervert?' Sakura's mind continued to fight for traction out in the hallway.

"Who's the pretty girl?" Pakkun asked.

"This is my girlfriend, Hinata-chan."

"Hinata, as in Hinata Hyuuga?" Pakkun asked in surprise.

Hinata nodded absentmindedly. She was distracted by the odd tingling sensation of the Nibi's chakra healing the finger she'd jammed against Naruto's knuckles when he lost his grip on the sleeping bag earlier. She still wasn't use to the speed she healed with now that the second seal was gone, despite having always had some very limited healing abilities due to the Nibi.

"Well, you're a lot taller than the last time I saw you," commented Pakkun.

"We've met before?" Hinata asked, now flexing her newly healed finger and paying more attention to the conversation. She couldn't remember meeting Pakkun, but since she had been to the Inuzuka household so many times as a member of Team 8, talking dogs were not necessarily something that would stick out in her memory.

"Several times actually, but don't worry if you don't remember," Kakashi casually noted. "The last time you met Pakkun was when you were only two or three years old. If I recall correctly, when you saw him you yelled out, "puppy," and then dragged him back to your room where you tied pink bows on his tail and ears."

"I thought we agreed to never mention that again," Pakkun grumbled.

"Oh, we did? My mistake. Too bad though, it was a good look for you," Kakashi answered.

Naruto bit his tongue to keep from laughing and Hinata looked slightly embarrassed. Pakkun merely shot Kakashi a dirty look, before deciding to ignore the masked jonin.

"Sorry, Pakkun-san," Hinata apologized.

"It's, okay. It could have been worse," the pug summon sighed. 'She could have wanted to play dress up,' Pakkun thought with a shiver of terror when he remembered the escort mission where the Fire Lord's three young daughters happened to notice he was the same size as their dolls. It took years before he could go anywhere in the summons' dimension without hearing snickering.

"Sakura-san, is something wrong?" Hinata asked when she finally noticed the last member of Team Kakashi still standing in the hallway with a strange spaced out expression on her face.

"Umm…no. I'm good. There's nothing wrong! No, nothing wrong at all!" Sakura hurriedly blurted out while holding both hands up defensively. In truth, she'd been freaking out over the possibility that either: A) being a pervert was contagious and many of the people she called friends were prime carriers, or B) she had always been a pervert and just didn't suspect it until now. 'Maybe it's Inner Sakura that's the pervert, and I'm really normal. Yeah, that's got to be it!'

'HAHAHA! YOU WISH, SISTER!' Inner Sakura roared.

Sakura's face took on a panicked look at the outburst from her mental alter ego.

'Maybe I shouldn't have thrown Sakura-san against the cave wall quite so hard. I think I may have broke her,' Hinata worried to herself as she observed her teammate's odd behavior.

Kakashi coughed to get everyone's attention, "Anyway, the reason I was looking for you two is Pakkun found where Akatsuki took Gaara. Temari is assembling a rescue team, and I told her we would accompany them when they leave in about thirty minutes."

* * *

A short while later, Team Kakashi was standing in front of the hotel when Temari and Baki walked up. The Sand kunoichi appeared to be angry, while Baki had an exasperated expression on his face. 

"Where's the rest of your team Temari-san," Sakura asked.

"The council in all of its esteemed wisdom decided to reassign my team to a border patrol mission," Temari groused while casting an angry glare at Baki.

Baki sighed and turned toward Kakashi. "They are concerned that our neighbors will try to take advantage of Kazekage-sama's kidnapping to attack. Until more of our teams receive the recall order and return from their missions, they're canceling all new missions and doubling our border patrols. I'm afraid you're going to be on your own, at least until more of our teams return or I can convince the council to change its mind."

Kakashi spoke up, "I'm guessing this has to do with what happened to the Third Kazekage?"

Baki nodded.

"Excuse me, Baki-sama, Kakashi-sensei, but what are you talking about?" Hinata asked.

"The Third Kazekage is widely believed to have been the most powerful shinobi this village has ever produced. One night many years ago he simply vanished from his quarters in the Kazekage tower without a trace. We believed he was kidnapped. The village sent out most of its forces to search for him, but a war broke out within days of the Third's disappearance. Because our forces were scattered, we nearly lost the war in the first few weeks of fighting and suffered massive loses before we could regroup to launch a counter-offensive. We have never been able to discover who was responsible for the Third's disappearance or what happened to him, but the council believes the disappearance was connected to the start of the war."

"That's just plain dumb. We know it was Akatsuki who kidnapped Gaara this time, and even where they've taken him. It's not like you can't send a couple of teams on a rescue mission and still reinforce your border patrols, just to be on the safe side," Naruto responded with a frown.

"Not everyone on the council likes Gaara being the Kazekage," Temari explained. "Some of them are probably more than happy with the idea that he might not return."

'That's enough, Temari," Baki said. "The council is just trying to do what's it thinks is best for the village. We have to respect that even if we don't agree with their decision."

"It doesn't mean they care what happens to Gaara, Baki-sensei," Temari shot back. "You know there are plenty of members of the council who still hate him. They're not going to do anything to save him until it's too late."

The Leaf shinobi noticed Baki didn't contradict Temari's accusation. In truth, he couldn't honestly do that. Despite his newfound popularity with the younger shinobi, Gaara had been a controversial pick for Kazekage, and his reform efforts and close ties to the Leaf hadn't done much to win over the hardliners on the council.

"At least let me go with them, even if you can't authorize my full team," Temari begged.

"No, Temari. You should stay with your team," a voice announced from above. "I'll go."

"But Chiyo-baasama! You can't!" Temari yelled out when she looked up with the rest and saw the Suna elder standing on atop of a three-story building next to the hotel.

Baki joined in, "Listen to her, Chiyo-baasama, the council…"

"Can kiss my wrinkled old ass. I'm retired; they can't tell me what to do," Chiyo replied.

Sakura blanched. "I really didn't need that mental image."

"No argument there, but you gotta love her attitude," Naruto said with a grin. The crazy old Sand lady was starting to grow on him.

"Still, it would be too much for someone your age," Baki tried to argue.

"Don't treat me like an old woman!" Chiyo leaped off the rooftop forty feet above and landed on her feet with a thud right between Sakura and Hinata.

"Besides, I've been longing to see my cute little grandson for a while now, and I'm certain these youngsters will be happy to help. Won't you, dearies?" Chiyo asked in a grandmotherly voice, which came off as oddly creepy, as she laid her hands on Sakura and Hinata's shoulders.

"Y-y-yes, Ma'am," the two kunoichi stammered in unison.

* * *

"Gai-sensei, can we please take a break?" Ten-ten called out. "We've been running for over a whole day!" 

"Ten-ten, you haven't been training enough, have you?" Lee asked as he looked back over his shoulder.

"Yeah, Ten-ten, don't tell me you're getting tired. I'm not even winded yet," Kiba called out as he pounded his fist against his chest to emphasis the point.

Ten-ten growled and started to reach for a kunai. Kiba had been driving her crazy for the last six hours by egging on Gai and Lee to pick up the pace. Those two were bad enough without him encouraging them, damn it!

Neji grabbed his teammate's wrist in time to prevent the oblivious Kiba from getting a kunai shoved somewhere the sun didn't shine. "Just wait," he whispered in the weapon mistress' ear.

"Kiba, you are not winded because you have been riding Akamaru since we left Konoha," Shino pointed out.

"Well, he's not tired either, and he's been carrying me," Kiba retorted.

"And that is because, as you have bragged to me on numerous occasions, your clan has spent the last century breeding a sub-species of canine that can run for days without rest," Shino countered.

Kiba scowled and flipped Shino the bird.

"Is that your IQ or the number of friends you have counting Akamaru," Shino deadpanned.

"Holy shit! Shino told a joke!" Kiba cried out in shock before turning around to look at his old Team 8 teammate. SMACK! He never saw the branch that knocked him off Akamaru.

Ten-ten gave a relieved sigh as everyone stopped to check on the downed Kiba. "Thank goodness, now we can take a break."

While Gai and Lee worked to pull a dazed Kiba out of the thorn bush he landed in, Neji fished a large strip of beef jerky out of his bag and tossed it to Akamaru. "As promised."

Akamaru quickly wolfed down the treat before his master could notice.

"Oh, you're good," Ten-ten whispered to Neji.

Neji shrugged. "It was mostly Shino's idea."

Ten-ten looked over where Shino was standing innocently next to Gai and Lee and smiled. Shino nodded his head in response. 'It's always the quite ones.'

"Maito Gai!" Pakkun called out from just ahead of the group.

The elder of the two green-clad shinobi let go of Kiba's arm, causing the young chuunin to fall backwards into the thorn bush while giving off a steady stream of curses.

"Pakkun?"

* * *

Kiba sat on the ground pulling thorns out of his skin and cloths as Pakkun began to explain the situation. "The Akatsuki's scents lead to River Country, located between Konoha and Suna. In other words, since you were traveling between the two villages, you are the closest to Akatsuki's hideout at the moment. I'll explain the rest as we travel." 

"Right, let's move out!" Gai said to the rest.

None of the Konoha ninjas spotted their strange observer emerging from the trunk of a nearby tree.

* * *

"There is a group of six enemies approaching from the southeast. They appear to be Konoha ninja lead by one called Maito Gai," Zetsu reported from his perch on one of the statue's fingers. 

Below the nine Akatsuki members Gaara's limp body was levitating in the middle of a sphere of chakra. The Shukaku's chakra and essence were being steadily drawn out through his mouth and eyes.

Pein turned his head toward Itachi.

"Maito Gai is one of Konoha's elite jonin who specializes in taijutsu. He is quite skilled, so it would be wise not to take him lightly," Itachi answered the unspoken question.

"Ah…that 'wild animal,' eh?" Kisame commented.

"I'll use that jutsu," Pein said.

"In that case, I'll go. I haven't been able to find a trace of my target, and it's starting to piss me off," Hidan offered.

"No, allow me to go," Kisame interjected. "I have a score to settle with that person."

Pein seemed to consider this for a moment and was about to give his decision when Zetsu interrupted.

"Wait, there is a second group…"

Zetsu paused in mid sentence, and then a minute later let out a startled cry right before his projection disappeared in a flash of light.

"MAINTAINE THE JUTSU!" Pein yelled as the massive drop in chakra caused by Zetsu's absence threatened to interrupt the extraction.

The others boasted their chakra output to stabilize the jutsu, but Pein could tell something else was wrong. 'It shouldn't be this difficult, something is working against us.'

The Akatsuki leader looked down.

"Impossible."

Seven pairs of eyes turned to where their leader was looking.

The jinchuuriki of the Ichibi no Shukaku was conscious.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

** Sorry for the delay in getting Chapter 8 up, but I was up to my eyeballs with work and school stuff the last few weeks and simply didn't have a lot of time to do any personal writing or reading. **

**This is the ****rough draft**** of the opening scenes of my second version of the Naruto/Stargate crossover.  
**

**Three guesses who the unnamed man with the spiky yellow hair is, and the first two don't count. BTW, it's not Naruto.**

**(Note: An Al'kesh is a medium-sized Goa'uld bomber/scout ship.)**

* * *

**Return of a Legend**

"Oh, Carter, that planet in the window is getting bigger. You might want to hurry things up down there," Colonel Jack O'Neill spoke into the radio clipped to his vest.

"I know, sir!" came the terse reply over the radio. "That last hit we took damaged the engines and the Al'kesh's computer. The control crystals couldn't stand the strain of using the hyperspace engines and blew. I'm trying to fix the problem, but it's going to take about ten minutes."

Jacob Carter grabbed the radio off of O'Neill's vest. "Sam, we've got three minutes, tops, before we start burning up in the atmosphere. Can you repair the flight controls and give me at least minimal sub-light engines back online in that amount of time?"

"I'll try," was the only reply.

* * *

"Major Carter, I do not believe that is wise," Teal'c said as he stood behind the blond-haired woman in the engine room. "Cross connecting the crystals in that manner will short-circuit the ships systems. 

"I know, but it'll take a few minutes before that happens. At least this way we'll be able to control our descent before we lose everything," She answered as she frantically tried to finish.

Carter held down the transmit button on her radio, "Okay, Dad, I've got the flight controls and sub-light back, but the engines are only at ten percent. The repairs I made are only going to last a couple of minutes before we lose everything, and I do mean everything, including life support, so you need to hurry."

'Come on, Teal'c, we probably don't want to be in this room when everything shorts out," Carter said as she headed for the door.

* * *

"That enough, Jacob?" 

"It's going to have to be."

* * *

"Why did we drop out of hyperspace? I thought we weren't suppose to make it back to P3C-117 for at least another five hours," Daniel asked as soon as he saw Sam and Teal'c enter the cargo hold. 

"We've had a bit of a problem," Sam answered.

"Such as?"

"The Al'kesh's engines and computer were damaged more that we initially believed. Jacob Carter is currently trying to make an emergency landing before the ship's systems shut down completely and impact the surface of the planet below," Teal'c answered matter-of-factly.

"Oookay, sorry I asked," a wide-eyed Daniel replied.

"Janet, how's our guest?" Sam asked as she turned to the other two occupants of the room.

A shorter brunette-haired woman dressed in fatigues looked up from where she had been checking the blood pressure of a man in his mid-twenties with spiky blond hair who lay on a stretcher. "He hasn't woken up yet, but there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him," Dr. Frasier answered.

"He might not wake up for a few days, if he really was ascended," Daniel added. "Shamda said I was awake when they initially found me at Vis Uban but passed out within a few minutes and was unconscious for four days after that."

"It would fit with what the Tok'ra who found him said happened, Janet," Sam noted.

They were all curious about the man that had appeared, much as Daniel had months earlier, in a flash of light on a planet where a team of Tok'ra manned a listening post that spied on a nearby Goa'uld home world. The Tok'ra had found the man naked and babbling incoherently in a language none of them recognized before he lost conscious. The planet the Tok'rah were on did not have a stargate, and while the team had a small cargo ship, they still had to finish their original mission so they sent a message back to the Tok'ra High Council asking for instructions. The council informed the SGC. As a result, General Hammond ordered SG-1 to meet up with Jacob Carter on P3C-117 and use an Al'kesh the Tok'ra had 'acquired' from the Goa'uld to retrieve the man while the Tok'ra on the planet continued with their mission. Unfortunately, the Goa'uld had somehow learned of the listening post and attacked just as SG-1 was taking off from the surface. Both SG-1 and the Tok'ra operatives on the planet managed to escape and make the jump to hyperspace, but not without the Al'kesh suffering some damage as it covered the unarmed cargo ship.

A sudden jolt shook everyone out of their thoughts causing them to grab hold to whatever they could as the planet's gravity and the buffeting from entering its atmosphere began to violently shake the ship faster than the artificial gravity system could react.

* * *

"Jacob, this controlled landing doesn't feel very controlled," O'Neill complained as he held onto his seat for dear life. 

"That's because we're going in a little faster than recommended," the older man replied without looking at the leader of SG-1. "I'd rather not be two miles above the ground when we lose power."

The ship's hull groaned in protest at the abuse it was being subjected to.

"Fair enough," O'Neill conceded, "just don't let the ship fly apart before we make it to the surface."

As Jacob was now ignoring him in favor of flying the ship, O'Neill looked out the window at the world below. He could make out a group of large islands in the middle of an ocean. A few seconds later, the Al'kesh crossed over the coast of a large continent. While he could see what looked like a desert farther west and a mountain covered pennisula to the north, they seemed to be coming down in a region that was covered with thick forests. As they descended below a layer of storm clouds, Jack could make out towns and villages. He began to relax, as they got close enough to the ground to make out individual trees. 'We're almost home free now.'

Right as that comforting thought crossed O'Neill's mind, the lights inside the Al'kesh went out and he heard Jacob curse, as the controls quit responding to his inputs.

"We are _so_ boned!" O'Neill yelled into his radio as a warning to the rest of the team.

* * *

"To what bone is Colonel O'Neill referring?" Teal'c asked. 

"He means brace for impact!" Daniel shouted as he and Dr. Frasier dove over the man on the stretcher.

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!" Naruto yelled out as he pointed at the rapidly descending object. 

"Hinata," Kakashi said as he turned to a girl with long dark hair.

"Byakugan," the girl said. Blood vessels and nerves around her eyes became more visible on her face as she focused on the object.

"Kakashi-sensei, I can see people inside it!"

A moment later they heard a horrendous crash as the object impacted the ground out of sight of the group. Smoke began to rise above the tops of the trees.

Kakashi shared a look with Yamato, who nodded in agreement to the unspoken question. "Okay, Kiba, you and Akamaru have point," Kakashi said as he pointed toward the rising smoke. The eight Konoha shinobi leapt to the trees.

* * *

"Okay, that does it! The next time you guys steal one of these things we're installing seatbelts," O'Neil said from the bottom of the heap he and Jacob lay in on the floor of the Al'kesh's bridge. 

"You know what they say, any landing you can walk away from," the Tok'rah host responded as he pulled himself up. He let out a grunt of pain when he tried to put weight on his left ankle.

"You were saying?"

Jacob shot Jack an annoyed look. "Just give me a hand. I think my ankle is broken."

O'Neill pulled Jacob's arm over his shoulder and let the older man lean on him as they made their way into the darkened corridor.

"Damn it, Carter," the Colonel growled when he was suddenly blinded by a light shinning in his eyes. Behind her, Teal'c and Daniel carried the stretcher with the man they'd picked up at the Tok'ra listening post. Dr. Frasier was walking alongside the stretcher holding a cold pack to her forehead.

"Sorry about that, sir," Sam apologized as she lowered her flashlight. "Dad!"

"It's just my ankle. Selmak's already working on it," Jacob said to his daughter.

"You okay there, Doc?" O'Neill asked as he pointed his own flashlight in Dr. Frasier's direction.

"Yeah, I just got a bump on my head during the crash," Janet responded in a dazed sounding voice. "I might have a small concussion though."

O'Neill lowered Jacob to a sitting position on the floor, as Dr. Frasier sat down next to him and Teal'c and Daniel put down the stretcher.

"Any idea where we landed?"

Jacob looked up and spoke in a different voice indicating it was actually speaking Selmak. "I have a general idea of where we came out of hyperspace, but I have no knowledge of this world. However, the ship's sensors showed the atmosphere was breathable before we crashed."

"We made an emergency landing; we did not crash," Jacob said in his own voice.

O'Neill chuckled at hearing his old friend arguing with 'himself.' Some things never get old.

"Carter, you want to do the honors?" Colonel O'Neill said with a nod toward the hatch.

"Yes, sir." Sam answered before hitting the button to open the hatch. It slid open about six inches and stopped. "Teal'c, could you give me a hand?"

The tall Jaffa grabbed the edge of hatch and pulled, while Sam braced her back against the wall and pushed with her legs. Between the two of them they were able to open the hatch.

"Okay, let's take a look," O'Neill said as he stepped out the opening onto the Al'kesh's hull. Sam joined him.

Outside they could tell they crashed landed in a large grassy field surrounded by trees on all sides. The Al'kesh had clipped the tops off some of the trees before digging a long furrow in the ground before it finally skidded to a stop. It was raining and a small amount of steam rose from the rapidly cooling hull.

"Heads up, here come the natives," O'Neill said as a group of people slowly approached from the tree line. Sam turned and saw what looked to be two men, six teens, and a large white dog. All the people were wearing identical rain cloaks.

Daniel stuck his head out of the hatch upon hearing they had company. O'Neill waved to the group.

"Jack, you know they're from a different culture. Waving like that may not mean the same thing…to…them." Daniel's voice trailed off as a blond-headed teen smiled and waved back. O'Neill looked at Daniel with a smug expression on his face.

"Umm, sir?" Carter said as she continued to watch the eight approaching people and one canine.

"Yeah, I noticed, too," the Colonel responded as he turned away from Daniel. "They're being cautious, not hostile, so I don't think we have anything to worry about. Just act friendly, and don't do anything to startle them. They're probably going to want some answers."

Daniel looked at Sam with a questioning look on his face. "They're advancing in formation and it looks like they're wearing some kind of badge of rank or identification. There is a good chance they belong to a some kind of military or law enforcement group."

Daniel turned back to the group approaching him; finally spotting the metal plate with some kind of symbol on it that each of them wore. They were also clearly split into two groups of four. One pair in each group walked slightly forward, while the second pair walked slightly behind and to the side of the ones in front. They were also spread out in the same manner Jack had always instructed SG-1 to walk in to prevent more than one person from being taken out at a time.

"I can't tell if any of them are armed with those cloaks they're wearing," O'Neill noted.

"I think the one that waved back might have had a holster of some kind strapped to his leg, but it was hard to tell from here," Carter said.

Daniel noticed their footwear. They were all wearing similar sandals, but they looked like tennis shoes from earth without the toes. He also caught glimpses of their cloths, as the cloaks they were wearing would occasionally blow open in the wind. "A lot of their clothing looks manufactured, so they may be reasonably advanced technologically."

"Well, at least advanced enough to discover hair dye and gangsta rap," O'Neill noted as he looked toward a girl with pink hair and a boy whose face was barely visible behind sunglasses and a hood.

When the group got within thirty feet of the Al'kesh they stopped. The older one with the strange metal headgear that framed his face called out something in a language O'Neill couldn't understand. Jack got the distinct impression that the one with the gray hair and mask was actually in charge, not the speaker.

"Sounds like," Daniel started to say.

"…Japanese, sir," Carter finished for him. "I think he's asking who we are and if we have any injuries."

Both Colonel O'Neill and Daniel looked at Sam in surprise.

"I took three years of Japanese at the Air Force Academy, sir."

"Ah," O'Neill replied.


	9. Chapter 9: Gaara's Gambit, Part 1

**Faith of the Heart**

* * *

**Disclaimer: While I do not own Naruto or any of the characters or other aspects of the story created by Masahi Kishimoto, I do own this story. Do not plagiarize my work.**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Gaara's Gambit, Part 1**

"I can't believe they were headed for River Country the whole time. We probably passed within ten miles of them on the way to Suna," Naruto grumbled.

"And you're mad that we might have been able to catch up with them before they reached their hideout if we'd known about it while we were on the way to Suna, aren't you?" Hinata finished the thought for him.

"Well, yeah."

"It would have made rescuing Gaara-san easier if we knew beforehand, but if we hadn't gone to Suna, Kankurou would be dead," She pointed out before leaping to the next branch.

"That's true, too," Naruto replied thoughtfully. He didn't think Gaara would have wanted them to save his life at the cost of his brother's. He paused, seemingly mulling something over. "Am I really that easy to read?"

Hinata looked over her shoulder and smiled, not saying that, at least to her, the answer was usually yes. "It's not a bad thing, Naruto-kun. I know what you're thinking because I know you. You always worry about whether or not you could have done more to help your friends."

"I know, but I kinda like…"

"…being unpredictable?" Hinata finished for him again.

"Ero-sennin was right, there has got to be a Yamanaka somewhere in your family tree," Naruto pouted. His pout turned into a smile though when he heard Hinata giggle at the childlike expression on his face.

"Naruto, can I ask you something?" Sakura asked hesitantly from behind, startling him.

"Sure thing, Sakura-chan. What do you want to know?" Naruto replied as they leaped through the forest canopy.

"How long has Akatsuki been after you?"

"I don't know," Naruto answered in an unusually solemn voice.

"Two Akatsuki members, one of who was Sasuke's brother, Itachi, came to Konoha to find Naruto. That was three years ago. Kidnapping Gaara is the first move, that we know of, they have made since then," Kakashi answered for Naruto.

"Why would they wait for three years?" Sakura asked.

"Maybe it wasn't so much that they weren't after him, as it was they couldn't go after him. He and Hinata were traveling with Jiraiya during most of that time, after all," Kakashi theorized.

"No, according to my sources there's a more important reason," Chiyo interrupted. "In order to draw out a 'bijuu' that has been sealed within someone requires a certain amount of preparation. That is what they have been doing the last three years."

"What exactly are the bijuu, anyway?" Sakura asked the Suna Elder.

"What! How can you be Tsunade's apprentice and not know that?" Chiyo asked in astonishment.

"She doesn't know, because in Konoha everything surrounding the bijuu is handled with extreme secrecy," Kakashi pointed out.

"I suppose it would have to be since you have the Kyuubi," Chiyo said with a nod toward Naruto. "The 'Bijuu' are demons with tails. In essence, they are sentient masses of chakra that have taken the form of giant animals. For example, Suna has had the Shukaku, which is currently sealed within Gaara, for a long time. It's the Ichibi that takes the form of a giant tanuki."

'The 'one-tailed'? Does that mean there are others besides the Kyuubi, Nibi, and Shukaku?" Sakura asked.

"That's right. There are nine in all, each with a different number of tails. The more tails a bijuu has, the more power it possesses. In addition to that, each bijuu is believed to have unique abilities, like the Sukaku's mastery of sand," Chiyo continued. She paused for a moment in thought. "I can understand you knowing about the Shukaku and the Kyuubi, but where did you hear of the Nibi if you did not even know what a bijuu is? The Cloud possesses the Nibi, but no one has heard anything about it in over fifteen years. There were rumors its last known jinchuuriki was killed in battle, possibly taking the demon with her."

'Oopsie,' Sakura cringed.

"She heard about the Nibi from me," Kakashi jumped in to save Sakura. "Sakura was only recently told of the Kyuubi's true fate. Naturally, she was curious about jinchuuriki, so we discussed it while waiting out a sand storm on our way to Suna. I believe I mentioned an encounter I had with the Nibi's jinchuuriki when I was a teenager."

"Is that so?" Chiyo asked suspiciously.

"Every word," Kakashi answered truthfully.

Meanwhile, said jinchuuriki was occupied by a barely visible, moving chakra signature that she had caught a glimpse of using her activated Byakugan. Almost as soon as Hinata spotted it, the signature vanished. She tried to find the signature again but couldn't pick it out again amongst the background clutter of the forest. She frowned. The chakra signature wasn't much stronger than what she would have expected from a woodland animal, but something didn't fit. The signature was too fast and purposeful in its movements. Hinata channeled a small amount of the Nibi's chakra to her Byakugan. The yellow, cat-like pupils reappeared, her vision instantly became sharper, and her visual range increased. Sticking out like a flare to her now enhanced Byakugan, a chakra signature appeared _inside_ the trunk of a large tree ahead of them. A black and white head flanked by a pair of Venus flytrap-like jaws briefly emerged from the tree trunk. The collar of a dark colored robe covered with what looked like cloud designs was barely visible where the strange individual's body met the tree. Then the head submerged itself back into the tree without leaving a trace of the fact it had ever been there. Hinata stared for a moment in disbelief before she realized she needed to do something.

"Kakashi-sensei, there's a small stream up ahead. Didn't you say we needed to stop for water, earlier?" Hinata called out in a loud voice from where she was running point.

Kakashi instantly spotted the hand signal she was frantically waving behind her back. "Yes, I did. Let's take five, everyone."

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei," Hinata replied before leaping down from the trees to land next to a rock outcrop that jutted out of the forest floor between the stream and the tree their observer was hiding in.

As soon as everyone landed behind the outcrop, Kakashi whispered to Hinata, "What did you see?"

"I'm not really sure. There was nothing there at first, but then I saw a chakra signature run through the ground and up into that large tree with the moss on it about fifty meters directly southwest of us. Now, there's someone inside of the tree. Whoever it is stuck his face out of the tree and was staring straight at us," Hinata said with a shiver. "If I hadn't activated my Byakugan when he was moving, I never would have known he was there. As it is, I can barely pick him out from the forest's chakra clutter."

"Are you positive this person is _inside_ the tree and not using some kind of camouflage jutsu to blend in with the tree's surface," Kakashi asked.

"Positive," Hinata answered.

"Akatsuki, most likely their lookout," Kakashi said as he looked at Chiyo, who nodded her head in agreement. It would have to be someone at the level of the members of Akatsuki. While jonin, chuunin, and even some skilled genin, could phase through non-living matter like dirt or rock, phasing though living matter such as plants or animals that had their own chakra was strictly the domain of an extremely small number of S-ranked shinobi and bloodline clans.

Kakashi frowned under his mask. "This is a problem. If he hadn't already seen us we could just circle around him, but as it is he's sure to follow us or…"

"I've got an idea," Naruto interrupted. The cackle that followed the blonde's words caused Hinata and Sakura to simultaneously gulp. Hinata turned to Sakura with a questioning expression on her face.

"I just had a flashback to the time Naruto talked Sasuke-kun and me into trying to see under Kakashi-sensei's mask. You?"

"Practical joke Naruto-kun pulled involving a goat, Jiraiya-sensei's hair turning the same color as yours, and a fifty-five gallon drum of maple syrup. Please don't ask, I don't want to talk about it," Hinata replied with a shutter.

* * *

Zetsu had just started to report this second group of intruders to the other Akatsuki through his projection in the cave. He eased his head out of the tree to spy on what the group was up too. The dark-haired girl was kneeling by the stream, filling up the group's canteens and water bags, and the pink-haired one standing not far away casually talking to the others who were out of sight behind the outcropping.

"Back in a minute, I've got to answer the call of nature, if you know what I mean," a blond-headed boy called out as he emerged from behind the rocks and hurried pass the two girls. Zetsu recognized him immediately as the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, Naruto Uzumaki. The pink-haired girl yelled back, "Don't announce it, Baka!" Naruto was headed in the direction of the tree Zetsu was hiding within.

Zetsu went silent and started to suppress his chakra as much as possible while still sending chakra to his projection in the cave for the extraction jutsu. There was a slight chance that the teen might be able to hear him or sense his chakra if he got close enough. Better safe than sorry. His caution turned out to be justified, as Naruto walked straight up to the tree, made sure the bush next to it provided some privacy from the others' view, and then reached for his pants zipper. Both of Zetsu's halves rolled their eyes.

Unable to resist his natural prankster instincts, Naruto stopped and looked right at the portion of the tree he'd been told Zetsu was peeking out from. "Hey, Akatsuki-teme, how about some privacy here?"

Startled, Zetsu finally noticed the radio earpiece in the teen's ear. When he stole a quick glance at the other Konoha shinobi. The dark-haired girl stood and turned to face him while touching the throat-microphone of her own radio. The bulging veins and distinctive eye color marked her as a member of the Hyuuga clan. The wrinkled old woman, who Zetsu now recognized as the one of the Suna elders, stepped out from behind the rocks with a big toothy grin on her face and her bony middle finger extended skyward. Zetsu turned back to the teen below, too stunned that he'd been detected to even react.

'How can she see us?'

'_Even the Hyuuga in the first group did not notice our presence,'_ his other half agreed.

Naruto grinned. He still couldn't see Zetsu but trusted Hinata's voice in his ear when she told him the Akatsuki member wasn't reacting and appeared confused. "I've got a message for you and your buddies: we're going to get Gaara back and kick all your asses! Bunshin Daibakuha!"

_**KA-BOOM!**_

* * *

Naruto's clone exploded right next to the base of the tree, shattering its trunk. The force of the blast flung Zetsu backwards as his hiding place disintegrated around him. The Akatsuki lookout blacked out from the g-forces generated during his involuntary flight and lost the connection with his projection back in the cave. Only the pain of slamming into another tree managed to rouse him back to his senses.

He pulled himself to his feet and glared at the four Konoha shinobi and Suna elder he had been covertly observing moments before. The S-ranked missing-nin was smoldering, both literally and figuratively. His clothing, hair, and flesh were singed from the explosion. Small wisps of smoke rose from various places in mute testimony of the blast's power. A foot long fragment of wood was embedded in the Venus flytrap jaw that shielded the left side of his body. He pulled the fragment out and dropped it to the ground. A murderous wave of killer intent could be felt emanating from him. The Akatsuki member was furious that he'd been caught by such a simple trick. However, as much as he wanted to flay Team Kakashi and Chiyo alive, he didn't have time to exact his revenge. He had to quickly reestablish his connection to the sealing jutsu back in cave. Not only that, but he could not kill the Kyuubi's vessel without incurring the wraith of both Pain and Akatsuki's true leader. Reluctantly, Zetsu began to retreat. He was just about to phase into the ground when he heard a sound from behind him and sensed a build up of chakra. He turned to find Naruto hurtling toward him with a rasengan churning in his outstretched hand.

Thick, thorn covered vines erupted out of the ground and shot straight toward the airborne shinobi. Naruto redirected his arm downwards and used the rasengan to buzz saw through the vines trying to snatch him from the air. Flipping head over heels in mid-flight while using the rasengan to fend off the vines, he reoriented his body so he'd slam feet first into Zetsu.

"Naruto-kun, it's a clone substitution!" Hinata yelled out in warning.

Releasing the rasengan, Naruto quickly formed a shadow clone that grabbed him by the jacket and flung him up and over what appeared to be Zetsu. Right as he passed over it's head, Zetsu's clone burst open to reveal more vines. The vines tried to wrap around Naruto but only succeeded in ensnaring his shadow clone, dispelling the chakra construct when their thorns ripped into it. The real Naruto landed on his feet facing the mass of vines.

"Underground!" Hinata yelled while pointing at a spot just in front of Naruto, once again directing her teammates to Zetsu's hiding place.

"Naruto, out of the way!" Kakashi barked. The blond leapt backwards without hesitation, fairly sure he knew what his sensei's next order was going to be. "Sakura, now!"

"Right!" Sakura slammed her fist into the ground causing the earth to shake and heave upward.

Naruto landed on his feet fifty feet away from the others. He looked up expecting to see a similar result to when Sakura pulled the same move on Kakashi during the bell test, namely a stunned opponent sitting among the rubble. He was sorely disappointed. Five vines shot out of the ground and spread out like a fan between Zetsu's location and the opposing shinobi. Everyone instantly noticed that these vines were different than the others when dozens of seedpods sprouted along the length of each one. The pods rapidly swelled until they were over two feet long and then exploded launching a shower of needle-sharp senbon-like seeds in every direction. Hinata surged forward a short distance in front of the others and performed a kaiten, blocking the attack from hitting Sakura, Kakashi, and Chiyo. The shadow clone that had been impersonating Naruto dove behind a tree but was destroyed when one of the seeds sliced right through the tree and hit the clone.

"Oh, crap!" Naruto was midway through performing a kawarimi when he received the clone's memory of seeing the seed blow through the tree trunk. He instantly realized the substitution technique wouldn't work. "Kaiten!" He spun around in an extremely bastardized version of the jutsu his girlfriend had just preformed. The move stopped Naruto from being skewered, but it had been an act of desperation. Where as a Hyuuga depended on precise chakra control to push a simultaneous and even efficient distribution out of all the body's chakra points, Naruto just pumped out a massive burst of chakra and spun like mad. It worked, but only because the trick to using the kaiten wasn't the simultaneous release of chakra from all the body's chakra points. The only challenge in that was having the control to ensure that you didn't use _too much_ chakra and exhaust your reserves in the middle of a battle. Naturally, for someone with Naruto's insane chakra reserves this wasn't much of a concern. The real reason only members of the Hyuuga clan could master the jutsu was because only someone with the Byakugan could perform the inhumanly chakra-powered high speed spin required and still be able to fight instead of being disoriented and staggering around like a drunken monkey on roller skates like any normal human. This was a fact that Naruto quickly became reacquainted with when he stopped his rotation. He tried to stand up straight, but his inner ear was trying its damnedest to convince the rest of his body that the forest was still spinning around him. He ran back to the others following an unintentionally winding path and nearly falling several times. He almost made it when he tripped over his own feet and face planted right in front of Kakashi.

Naruto spat a leaf out of his mouth and sheepishly grinned. "I meant to do that!"

"Of course you did," Kakashi said, playing along with his subordinate's self-depreciating humor despite being genuinely impressed with the speed Naruto had reacted to his predicament and his unorthodox solution.

"You do know you could have just used a kawarimi, right?" Sakura asked, having not realized the full effects of the attack yet.

"And trade places with what, exactly?" Naruto replied while he tried to stop the world from spinning by grasping the sides of his head. Sakura looked around and was surprised when she noticed what Naruto already knew. The whole area looked like a giant pincushion. Many of the needle-sharp seeds had blown holes straight through the trunks of the surrounding trees. A few of the smaller trees had been cut in half by the barrage of thorns. Even the rock outcropping had been demolished. The only places spared were directly behind where Naruto and Hinata had preformed their respective kaitens. "Just be glad I didn't blow my cloths off this time," Naruto added as Kakashi helped him to his feet.

Hinata's face turned beet red at the mention of the results of Naruto's earliest attempts to copy the kaiten. The knowing, amused look Sakura flashed the Hyuuga teen reminded her a little too much of Jiraiya's reaction when she made it back to camp with toilet paper stuffed up both nostrils and dragging a naked and dazed Naruto wrapped up in her rain cloak. The sannin had blackmailed her into staying quiet about his 'research' for weeks afterward. "Naruto-kun, maybe now isn't the time to bring that up."

Meanwhile, Chiyo had kneeled on the ground and poured a vial of a greenish liquid in a puddle before her. She then ran through a rapid series of hand seals and then slammed her palms down to either side of the small puddle. "Doku chijou ami no jutsu." With her Byakugan, Hinata saw chakra strings weave themselves into a spider web-like net over the ground in front of them. The liquid in the puddle rapidly flowed along the chakra strings, which spread it evenly across the ground. Suddenly Zetsu burst from the ground acting as if he'd been burned.

"Despite your appearance, I see you're just as vulnerable to neurotoxins as the rest of us. I'd suggest you keep that in mind and stay above ground where we can see you," Chiyo announced to the Akatsuki lookout as she climbed slowly back to her feet.

"Hey, Stinkweed, you ready for a real fight now?!" Naruto yelled.

Zetsu snarled. "Stinkweed?!"

"_We'll crush you! Midori no tate!"_

A mass of vines burst forth from beneath Zetsu's cloak and wrapped around the missing-nin. The bramble of vines began to weave together into a vaguely humanoid shape that towered nearly thirty feet over the five shinobi below. At the end of each massive arm the vines twisted together into three drill-like spikes that turned brown as they hardened.

"Naruto," Kakashi sighed as the massive giant took a step toward them, "must you taunt the S-class missing-nin?"

Naruto turned and grinned at the masked jonin before rushing into battle. "It's what I do."

"Don't let your bare skin touch the ground, the poison I used can affect you as well," Chiyo advised.

"Gotcha!" Sakura yelled as she charged in preparing to deliver a devastating chakra powered punch. Her fist collided with one of the massive arms that had moved to block her, knocking Zetsu back and causing his plant armor to ripple as it absorbed the impact. She barely dodged the counterstrike as the other arm swung around.

Naruto stepped into the arm's path with his swords drawn. He slashed the arm, chopping off the end third. A blue-tinged shimmer effect extended several feet from both blades and a slight humming sound could be heard.

Kakashi was startled when he recognized Naruto had just used Asuma's hein technique. He didn't have much time to consider the implications in the heat of battle, though.

Naruto made a gash in the leg of Zetsu's midori no tate and another in its stomach. Hinata leaped onto the giant's chest and preformed her shugo hakke rokujuuyonshou. Instead of using the technique as a defense, she drove the beam of chakra emanating from her hand into the giant with a palm strike. There was a cry of pain from within as the beam struck home and pierced Zetsu's shoulder, but Hinata had to leap away to dodge the three spikes of the remaining hand trying to brush her off.

"Did you get him?" Naruto asked.

"No, he moved inside it at the last moment. I only managed to wound him."

Kakashi burned the midori no tate with a katon jutsu. However, Zetsu simply shed the outer layer of his armor, regenerating the missing arm and other damage in the process.

"Damn it, we don't have time for this!" Naruto yelled. He created a shadow clone and together they formed what looked like an oversized rasengan. Then he and the clone charged Zetsu. "Oodama rasengan!"

* * *

Gaara stood in a white expanse of nothingness staring at a mirror image of himself slowly getting smaller in the distance. He could feel his own strength slipping away along with the demon being ripped from his body. Despite his impending doom, Gaara felt oddly detached and calm, partly because his thoughts were becoming increasingly less lucid as he grew weaker.

"Why?" Gaara asked his reflection. "Why do I still fight to hold onto this existence?"

No response came, but the empty white expanse suddenly dissolved and was replaced by a wind-blown desert. The ground beneath Gaara's feet rumbled, and a great mound began to rise in front of him. The mound began to take on features Gaara was all too familiar with. Two pointed ears. A snout. Golden eyes. Blue markings etched across the surface of the creature's head.

However, something was different. The demon seemed to be breathing with a great deal of effort, and in places the sand that made up the gigantic head before him was crumbling away. Shukaku was in pain. When the demon spoke, it was not the voice of a drunken, raving madman Gaara had known all his life. This voice was sober, lucent, and came in pained gasps. **"Human…they are attempting to remove me from your body. When the process is complete, my power will be subjugated to their will, and you will be dead."**

"I know," Gaara replied.

"**You plan to stand here waiting for death?"**

"That does appear to be the only option open to me," Gaara answered with seeming indifference. The idea of dying didn't bother him as much as he thought it would. He would be free of the demon and the constant battle for control and his sanity he had endured since birth. As Gaara felt himself slowly succumbing to death's cold grasp, the idea of finally being able to rest from his long struggle, to no longer have to endure the heartache and rejection of others, was a seductive siren's song calling his name. Still, there was something holding him back from turning and fully embracing his end. He tried to remember what it was that was so important to him but couldn't. All his memories were hazy and distant. However, that did not mean the memories were beyond the demon's reach.

Shukaku cackled. **"The Kyuubi's vessel? That's what you're trying to remember? I don't see why he is so important, but if that is what you need to fight, so be it."** The demon surged some of its remaining chakra into Gaara. The hazy began to lift from Gaara's thoughts and the memories came rushing back. He could hear a voice full of emotion, understanding, and determination:

"_Because he was like me. Because he lived knowing the same kind of loneliness and sadness I did. I thought he was strong 'cause he survived that solitude fighting only for himself. But I was wrong. His strength isn't real. Strength doesn't come from fighting alone. Real strength is not what you have when fighting for only yourself."_

Another memory, the same boy's voice still full of determination but now also exhaustion and sympathy:

"_What you must feel being alone and incomplete. What your pain must be. I understand that…but for the people that are precious to me, to be able to…"_ The voice paused to catch his breath. _"The people that are precious to me…if you are hurting them and if you are trying to kill them I will stop you! Because they rescued me from the hell of being alone. They acknowledged my existence. That's why they are all the most important."_

"Love," Gaara said to himself. "That's what made him so strong that day. That's why I keep fighting, I wished to experience what it means to love others and be loved in return."

More memories came flooding back to him.

His sister Temari hugging him for the first time.

His brother swearing to stand by his side when he told him he wanted to become Kazekage.

His sensei, Baki, standing before the council and proudly declaring that not only was Gaara the strongest shinobi in all of Suna but he would also be the best Kazekage the village had ever known.

His apprentice, Matsuri, excitedly wanting to show him the latest jutsu she'd mastered.

His own surprise when he heard the people of Suna actually cheering for him when he was sworn in as Kazekage.

There was so much he had experienced thanks to his few precious people. He owed them so much. What kind of kazekage…no, person…would he be if he just abandoned them by giving up?

"**So you've made your decision?"**

"Yes, I intend to fight and not yield as long as I am able."

"**Good. Something has happened that has weakened their jutsu. I should be able to resist it, but I don't know for how long, so make your actions count."**

"Why are you helping?"

Shukaku cackled, sounding more like his old self. It was a something Gaara found oddly…comforting. **"Better a prisoner inside a brat than a mindless slave to someone insane enough to think they can control the combined power of my siblings and me. Even I'm not that crazy!"**

* * *

The rest of the Akatsuki stared in surprise at the empty spot Zetsu's projection had occupied moments earlier. Unnoticed below them, Gaara opened his eyes. He was in unbelievable pain. It felt like his very soul was being torn asunder with the Shukaku that was slowly being ripped from his body. He looked up at the figures standing on the statue's fingertips. He recognized the four Akatsuki physically present. Itachi Uchiha and Kisame were the only two confirmed members of Akatsuki. After receiving Jiraiya's warning that Akatsuki was on the move again, Gaara had felt compelled to review all the intelligence Suna had on the shadowy organization. The files on Itachi and Kisame were likely still sitting on his desk in the Kazekage Tower. The blond haired man opposite Itachi and Kisame he instantly recognized as the one he had fought. Putting together the scarred Iwa headband with the use of exploding clay he'd witnessed during the fight, Gaara was able to deduce the man's identity. The blonde was the missing-nin Deidara, who was wanted for acts of terrorism in his own country and three other nations. Then there was the last of the four. At first Gaara did not recognize the large, squat figure, but when he saw the articulated jaw of a puppet beneath the Akatsuki member's torn mask he quickly figured out it was Sasori of the Red Sands. There was no other puppet user who was of sufficient caliber to be a member of Akatsuki and also a missing-nin. Gaara was well acquainted with the story of the Suna missing-nin. His skills as a puppet master were legendary in Suna, and he also happened to be a distant cousin of the Sand Siblings.

The odds were decidedly not in Gaara's favor. Deidara was likely the weakest of the four, yet he had already demonstrated that even he was capable of defeating Gaara one-on-one under the right conditions. Even if Gaara could somehow break free of the jutsu they were using, in his present condition he did not stand much of a chance against four S-ranked missing-nins. Gaara had very little of his own chakra left and, any chakra he borrowed from Shukaku was instantly drained away by the extraction jutsu. He was hovering several feet above the ground and could only move his head and barely his arms. What's more, he also had no idea how long Shukaku was going to be able to resist the jutsu. He couldn't win this fight, but maybe…just maybe, he could ensure Akatsuki didn't win the battle.

Gaara stealthily moved what was left of his sand armor to his back to avoid letting the Akatsuki spot the sand falling to the cave floor below. Once on the ground, the sand seeped into the cracks of the rock and began breaking up the minerals a few feet below the surface to make more sand. Gaara knew he had to hurry. He had, at most, a minute or two before they realized he was awake. It wasn't enough time to generate the amount of sand he was going to need. If his plan was going to work he needed to buy more time. He needed a diversion, one that would use as little of his remaining chakra as possible. Gaara locked his eyes onto Deidara. The blond hair reminded him of another technique he'd once experienced. 'Perfect.'

Judging by the weak sounding cackle Shukaku emitted, he too approved of what Gaara was planning to do.

It was at that moment that Pain looked down and noticed Gaara was awake.

"Impossible." All the other Akatsuki members turned to look at Gaara. None of them spotted the tentacle of sand that shot up the backside of the finger of the King of Hell statue Deidara was standing on.

Gaara glared menacingly at Deidara. "We're not done with our fight."

Knowing Gaara was still trapped in the extraction jutsu and should have been completely paralyzed from the neck down, the former Rock-nin cockily asked, "What are you going to do about it, blink me to death?"

A sinister smile, the likes of which hadn't been seen on Gaara's face in almost three years, appeared. To Deidara's amazement Gaara's arms moved. He slapped his hands together and made a jabbing motion with only the index and middle fingers of each hand extended. "Leaf's Ancient Supreme Technique: One Thousand Years of Death."

Suddenly, Deidara's eyes bugged out, and he went rocketing across the cavern holding his butt with his one remain hand. "AAARRGGGHHHH!"

On the finger of the statue where he had been standing, Gaara's sand clone stood with its fingers extended in the same pose as its creator. Deidara's trajectory carried him straight toward a grinning Kisame, who rather than trying to catch Deidara, ducked, allowing Deidara to continue his flight into the cave wall beyond.

Itachi briefly raised a questioning eyebrow at his partner.

"I didn't want to disrupt the extraction jutsu any more than it already has been…at least that's the excuse I'm using if anyone asks."

* * *

**Original Jutsu**

**Doku Chijou Ami no Jutsu (Poisoned Ground Web Jutsu): A web of chakra strings is used to evenly spread a poison across the ground which then soaks into the soil.**

**Midori no Tate (Green Armor): A plant-based jutsu that surrounds the user with a giant living suit of armor capable of regenerating any damage it receives.**

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry for the extremely long delay in updating this story, but a combination of writer's block and a severe lack of free time due to other obligations (college and work) and a family emergency (finding out my father has cancer, which luckily the doctors caught early) got in the way of finishing chapter 9. My life is slowly getting back to normal, so I should be returning to a more regular updating schedule in the near future.**

**P.S. Sorry there's no bonus material this chapter. I'll make it up to you later.**


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